Strawberry Daiquiri
by OpalescentStorm
Summary: It's difficult loving what you're trying to crush in the palm of your hand. NejiTen, with some ShikaTema and NaruHina. AU.
1. Tastes That Linger

**AN:**__Hello, all! Welcome to my new chaptered story! It's all done already, all I have to do is upload it, which I will do by uploading a new chapter every Friday.

This was done as a sort of a collaboration between myself and the wonderful Maravelous. I told her I was planning on a 1920s fic, and she came up with an awesome plot and sent me basic outlines for each of the ten chapters.

Oh, by the way, it's Maravelous's birthday, so go wish her a happy one! If you've never heard of her (you poor, poor depraved reader), go check out her stuff. She's an **amazing**__writer. :D

Well. Without further ado, may I present you with:

_**Strawberry Daiquiri**_

_Chapter One; Tastes that Linger_

_Ten Years Ago..._

"Dear, hurry up!" a woman urged as the child behind her tripped over her feet, striving to reach her mother. The woman extended her hand out, and the little girl latched on to it with strength surprising for a five year old.

She turned her chubby-cheeked face up to the elegant woman whose hand she held. "Thanks for taking me shopping with you, momma!" the girl giggled, pressing close to her mother's side.

The woman smiled down at her and ruffled the chocolate brown hair that flowed freely to her daughter's shoulders. "Anytime, Tenten," she promised. Maybe it wasn't so easy to get around with a young girl latched onto her, and perhaps her shopping trip would take a little longer than usual, but those were a small price to pay for her dear daughter's smile.

"Spare change, please?" The request caught Tenten off-guard, and she tripped over her own feet. A firm hand that wasn't her mother's steadied her. "Careful there, little lady," the homeless man said cheerfully, his wide grin revealing a mouth that was more full of gums than of teeth. Tenten's eyes drifted down towards the crowd walking past. No one was stopping, despite the man's soft requests. The little girl sighed, a frown falling across her features. Not a single person was willing to even pause?

"Here, this is all the change I have, but I hope it helps," the melodic voice of Tenten's mother murmured, breaking through the girl's thoughts. A slender hand pressed a bill and some coins into the man's dirty hand, and an even broader smile broke across his face.

He carefully placed the money in a pocket of his worn clothing. "Bless you, lady, and your little daughter, too. I hope she grows up kind like her mother," he said, patting Tenten on the head. The girl was pulled after her mother, waving over her shoulder at the homeless man.

"Momma, no one else was stopping. Why did you do that?" the girl asked, a curious look etched across her features.

The woman gently pulled her daughter closer to her side. "What everyone else does shouldn't decide what I do. Besides, I had the change to spare, and he needed it. Is that not reason enough?" she asked mildly.

Satisfied with her mother's reasoning, Tenten nodded. Yet it wasn't long before she picked up her face again, her brow furrowed. "Didn't it make you sad to see him like that?" she wondered.

"A little. But maybe he'll be happier in the future. That's the kind of future I'd like to make possible for him."

_Present Day..._

Tenten frowned as she snapped the handcuffs on the rather dirty wrists of the man in front of her. Honestly, just because she was one of the few female police officers didn't mean she was any less capable that any of the males, she thought angrily as she yanked the man to his feet. And she certainly didn't do anything to deserve this lack of respect, either.

"You're under arrest for loitering and possession of alcohol. Or did being homeless keep you from understanding that prohibition went into effect quite a few months ago?" she asked, her tongue sharp in her anger.

The man at least wasn't resisting, she though, almost sighing in relief. All she would have needed was for someone to resist arrest for _some _of her male co-workers to exhort that she needed protection. Hell, she had earned her badge just as much as all of the rest of them. And she was a better officer than some of them. Stupid, misogynist, chauvinist pigs, the lot of them... well, perhaps not _all_, but still. "Come on, into the car, and don't even try anything idiotic."

He allowed himself to be pushed into the backseat, and Tenten slid into the driver's side of the Ford model-T. "What was that? Speak up," she demanded. All she'd heard was some incoherent mumbling from the back. Odd. He hadn't seemed drunk.

"I said 'what happened to compassion?'" the man replied steadily.

Tenten tried to keep from snorting. A rather crooked smirk appeared on her lips, and she started the automobile. "This is real life, not a drunken fairy tale. Now, where'd you get the bootleg from?"

. . .

Neji almost growled as he found himself shoved rather brusquely through the double doors of Ichiraku's. "Honestly, Temari, you're constantly dragging Miss Hinata and me here. It's becoming a little bit tiring, and more than slightly annoying," he scoffed.

The blonde in question just laughed and waved at the waiter near the front doors, a man named Kiba whose job it was to seat those not familiar with the restaurant. "Really, Neji. Come on, it's not like you don't like it!" she retorted cheerfully. Neji smiled in spite of himself as Hinata just giggled and pushed a lock of dark hair out of her eyes. Meanwhile, Temari's sharp eyes lit upon a table occupied by only two others.

She swooped down on it, pulling Neji and Hinata along with more force than one would suspect from the young woman. They all took seats, facing the stage in front of them. A jazz band blasted a sultry tune into their ears, but the microphone stand at the edge of the platform was unmanned and looked strangely lonely. "It certainly took the three of you long enough," a dark-haired man drawled, his cigarette tipping precariously from his fingers.

Temari scowled rather fiercely at him. "Well, sorry. But you weren't the one stuck with bringing the Hyuugas here. No offense, Hinata, I was alluding more to your cousin over here," the blonde woman added quickly, lest the sweet Hinata worry that she had caused Temari any undue troubles. As Neji glanced to his left, he surmised Temari shouldn't have bothered.

His cousin was glancing sweetly and surreptitiously over at the blonde man on her left, and a light blush was spread across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. "Um, hello, Naruto," she said softly.

"Hey, Hinata! How are you?" he replied, his excited and slightly grating voice a marked contrast to her demure tones. Vaguely, Neji wondered if he should castrate the boy now and save himself some time. Then again, Hinata might get upset. But if it was for her own good...

Neji's attention was shifted from _that_ fascinating topic when he noticed that Ichiraku, the owner of the bar, stood over the table, grinning. "Will you all be having the usual?" the man asked, looking over the group.

General murmurs of assent were his reply, but Neji frowned slightly and then shrugged. "No, I think I'd prefer to try something new today," he replied.

"How about I surprise you?" Ichiraku asked after a moment of thought. Neji simply nodded his head. Why not? "Well then," the owner continued, "I'll be back with your drinks in a moment." Just then the band finished their song, and the silence was greeted by rather unenthusiastic applause. A small frown appeared on Ichiraku's face. Clearly the diners were looking for something more than mere instrumentals, Neji thought, slightly amused. As he turned to go, the man nudged Shikamaru and then ambled off away from the table.

Shikamaru heaved a great sigh and took a drag out of his cigarette. "No way. I'm tired today, and I want to get a chance to finish my ciggy. Besides, we just ordered our drinks. They won't be out for a few more minutes," he hedged.

Whirling to face him, Temari slapped Shikamaru across the top of the arm harshly. "Stop whining and get your ass up on stage. Honestly, you can't even act like a man," she complained, her teal eyes narrowed.

"Fine, fine," Shikamaru sighed as he stood. "Naruto, are you going to help out?" he asked as he grabbed his fedora from the table and placed it on his head.

Naruto literally bounced out of his seat, nearly upsetting the table in the process. "Yeah, Shikamaru!" he said, his voice excited. Hinata's quiet giggle was only noticed by Neji, who rolled his eyes at the antics of the blond. "Let's go then!" he said, vaulting up onto the stairs, followed by Shikamaru, who ascended the platform in a exponentially more calm manner.

Both of the men were seen by the visitors at the restaurant. Neji noted that the newcomers simply sat and stared, but those who were familiar with the two clapped and cheered as Shikamaru approached the lonely microphone and Naruto opened the case for his trombone.

Turning to the band, Shikamaru tilted the brim of his hat slightly over his eyes. "So, do you know 'I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby'?" he asked cooly. Neji smirked as he heard Temari huff and mutter something unintelligible. A cacophony of agreement reached his ears, and Shikamaru smiled lazily and moseyed over to the microphone. "Naruto'll lead you guys," he told them over his shoulder. "Sorry about that part," he muttered into the microphone. Naruto whined some inane reply and Neji heard the crowd buzz with amusement around him.

For the first few bars, Shikamaru's smooth voice rolled like velvet over the entire restaurant. Good, as always, Neji though, a small smile starting to tug at the corners of his lips. Under the table, his foot was tapping in time to the music, just as Naruto started to blast clear notes through his trombone and the rest of the band slowly joined.

Even more interesting than the wonderful music, in Neji's opinion, was the starry-eyed looks playing across the faces of the women in Ichiraku's. Even Temari and Hinata, try as they may to hide it, seemed a little dazed and more than slightly captivated. As Shikamaru's gaze caught Temari's, Neji almost laughed. Temari, one of the more independent-minded women he ever knew, was blushing, the pink color splashed across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose.

Speaking of pink, a rather fruity-smelling, pink-red drink found its way in front of Neji. The rest of the drinks around the table, even Hinata's, looked somber and businesslike in comparison. "Interesting drink, Neji," Temari snorted, her attention drawn enough by his cocktail for her to leave Shikamaru's voice behind for a moment. "Kind of a dame's drink, isn't it?"

Ichiraku, who had finished passing around the drinks, shot the blonde woman a look. "It's alcohol; how is it feminine?" he demanded.

Temari, who had no answer for that question, merely shrugged her shoulders. "Seeing as I paid for it, I see no reason not to drink it," Neji retorted, practical as always. Still, he was a bit apprehensive as he raised the cocktail to his lips and took a sip of it. He found the taste to be quite pleasing, fruity but slightly acidic and with a slight burn. Ichiraku paused to tell him it was a new drink called a Strawberry Daiquiri before turning back to chat with Hinata and Temari.

As Hinata giggled and Temari chuckled, Neji looked around the bar. Already he was slightly bored. Although Ichiraku made excellent drinks and Naruto and Shikamaru were amazing musicians, Neji still found merely sitting around and listening to others talk about inane things to be a waste of his time.

The opening of the main doors, then, was quite a welcome distraction.

There were some tastes that lingered in Neji's mind; the taste of his first kiss, the sour taste of his uncle's criticisms, the taste of smoke in his mouth the first time he tried a cigarette. The taste of the strawberry daiquiri and something else, something unidentifiable, swirled in his mouth when he saw her for the first time, and he knew that the taste would be one of those that would linger on while others faded.

The sun was setting behind her, giving a strange sort of glow to her while making it hard to stare too long, making his eyes hurt when he tried to drink her in. While the police uniform wasn't something he'd quite wanted to see on such an adorable woman, it somehow only served to add to her charm, like the dark brown hair pulled into a bun at the back of her neck, or the large brown eyes that narrowed as she seemed to ask something of Kiba.

Neji's eyes were fixated on Kiba's finger as the younger man slowly pointed to Ichiraku, who was still too engrossed in conversation to notice what was going on. Neji even continued to stare unabashedly as the policewoman fixed her hands on her hips and made her way towards his table.

. . .

Well, if the homeless man was expecting to get alcohol from this place again, Tenten thought, he was in for a rude awakening. She was about to _crush_ this tiny establishment.

Just as she reached the table where the owner was, the band finished their song, and Tenten watched as a man in a fedora slouched off the stage while his blonde friend literally vaulted off of the platform and to the table she was at. "Are you the owner of the bar?" she asked Ichiraku, tilting her chin slightly up so she could see directly into his eyes.

"Yes, I am," Ichiraku replied, his voice not a bit hesitant. "Is there any problem here, officer?" he asked, the last word spoken with a sarcastic lilt that wasn't missed by the policewoman.

Tenten tried to keep from rolling her eyes. "Other than this being a gin mill, no. Did you know that there was a homeless man I arrested today who told me–"

She was cut off by the blonde man, who appeared to have just keyed into the fact that she was even there. "Doll, how about we switch roles and I'll handcuff(1) _you_," he suggested, his eyebrows wiggling in a way that reminded Tenten slightly of her chief and one of the other boys at the police station.

"Beat it, drugstore cowboy(2)" she replied, her voice dry. He pouted, and a dark-haired, well dressed man gave a quiet chuckle. He was quite handsome, she noticed, but her face remained stern as always. "Something funny?" she asked.

The man shrugged, all elegant ease. "Yes, it is, at least a little bit. Anyway, how do you know Ichiraku isn't simply serving soda? Or there are virgin forms of most drinks; it could be one of those."

Tenten eyed the man. "Well, if you're so confident that you're not breaking prohibition, let me smell your drink," she demanded, detaching a hand from her hip to hold out as she waited for him to give her the alcohol. The man wasn't as stupid as she had expected for him to be, being in a speakeasy. He passed her the pinkish beverage without anything more than a sigh. Tenten took a quick whiff of the drink; it definitely was alcoholic. She whirled to the owner of the cheap, dirty little bar, ready to accuse him.

"Look, officer," the man who'd been singing interjected, his voice calm and sounding tired, "give him a break. It's not quite like anyone here is ossified(3). Besides, it's a small bar; what harm could it possibly do?" he reasoned cooly.

Brown eyes narrowed and flickered to the jazz singer. "I already had one taken in today for bootleg that he bought _here_. Besides, I'm one of the first female police officers. Everyone's watching me, looking for me to slip up just once so they can say that dames can't do this job. I will not have any drunken accidents in this town on my watch," she snapped as she half-slammed the strawberry daiquiri onto the table.

"What a wet blanket," a dirty blonde woman muttered. "Anyway, didn't your mother teach you any compassion?" she asked.

"Well, my mother's dead. What's your excuse; did yours not teach you to think before you spoke?" Tenten retorted sharply.

The other woman only smiled bitterly. "I manage to think before I speak just fine; mine's dead, too, after all."

Before Tenten had a chance to reply to that, the man in a fedora laid a hand on her shoulder. "That aside, it's not like Ichiraku openly hands out hooch to anyone who comes in the doors. People have to ask him, and they have to be people he knows."

She didn't even bother to keep from rolling her eyes this time. "Prohibition doesn't exclude people who know the owners of speakeasies."

"How is alcohol even evil, like you people try to make it out to be?" he demanded with a sigh.

"Well, aside from impairing judgement, doing bodily damage, and making people act even more dumb that they usually manage to, I suppose it's not evil at all," she retorted. Tenten could feel her temper rising as this man tried to convince her that alcohol wasn't bad. What next, would he try to convince her it would be helpful? She almost snorted at the very thought.

Sighing, the man pulled off his hat and held it loosely in his hands. "If people don't get alcohol from here, they'll go to another joint and get it from there. You can't prevent people all around the world from getting their booze."

Tenten gritted her teeth; surely if he was smart enough to put forth these arguments he was smart enough to know not to bait a police officer. "Listen here. Maybe I can't enforce prohibition all around the world. However, I can and I will shut down this little gin mill and all the rest of them in this town," she snarled.

The man who had been trying to convince her otherwise sighed and placed his fedora back on his head, adjusting it slightly as he appeared to think. "Listen," he sighed, "I didn't mean to anger you. You should give us some time to prove that Ichiraku's won't cause any 'drunken accidents'. Three weeks, and then you can make your decision."

As she drummed her fingers on her hips, Tenten thought the proposition over. She'd been a little bit bored lately, and it was hard to find some decent company. The man had already proved himself to be levelheaded and at least passably intelligent, and the others couldn't be too bad. Besides, she could make any decision at the end of three weeks. He wasn't telling her she had to make a choice either way.

"I suppose I agree," she said after a moment, tilting her chin up even as she met the singer's dark eyes. "I'm not making any promises either way, though."

"Swell," the man said, a slow smile breaking across his face. "My name's Shikamaru, by the way. This is Neji, Naruto, Hinata, Temari, and Ichiraku, of course," he said, gesturing to each person in turn. "How about you come tomorrow to listen to me sing?" he invited.

It took her only a moment to consider. "Fine. I need to keep an eye on this place, anyway, if I'm to honor this deal," she said. Then she turned to go. She'd spent too much time in this little joint; there were other places to go, other criminals wandering around somewhere, no doubt, she thought.

A low voice cut into her thoughts. "Why are you even bothering us?" the man Shikamaru had introduced as Neji asked evenly. "Being a female police officer is ludicrous enough. Why do you find the need to dabble in other people's lives, as well?" he asked. The girl named Hinata tried to hush him, but he'd already said his piece.

"Listen here," she cut in, her voice cold. "Woman or not, I am still a police officer and I still have the power to arrest you on the spot. It's a power which I will certainly not hesitate to use if you have the poor judgement to insult myself or even my gender again. Are we clear, Neji?" she demanded, almost amused as he tried to match her glare for glare. She was the one with the handcuffs. The pale-eyed man shrugged and muttered something that she didn't even bother trying to listen to.

Without another word, she turned on her heel and stalked out of Ichiraku's. The taste of the place, the ambiance and the people, remained on her tongue, a feeling she couldn't get rid of. And even as that taste lingered, the smell of the strawberry daiquiri permeated her nose, and she couldn't help but wonder if it tasted as good as it looked.

Tenten shook her head as she close the door behind her, just barely catching the wailing of a trumpet flowing through the crack in the doors before she firmly shut them. It was silly to wish for a drink of the liquor, of course. Especially when she had her own reasons for trying to be a police officer and for enforcing prohibition.

She wanted to keep the place clean and safe for the residents, even if they weren't pleased about her so-called intrusion. She had to do her best for her town. All for the sake of her mother. Tenten pulled the door to her car open and started the automobile.

She had dreams of her own. And a low-class bar wasn't going to ruin them.

. . .

1920s slang dictionary!

1) A double entendre. Handcuffs in the literal sense, but also in 1920s slang, in which it means an engagement ring.

2) A guy who hangs around street corners trying to pick up girls. Desperate.

3) Drunk.


	2. Jazz and the Blues

**AN: **Hey, all! I hope you're enjoying the story! :D

_**Strawberry Daiquiri**_

_Chapter Two; Jazz and the Blues_

Tenten yawned and rubbed her eyes. She'd just finished with what seemed like the longest shift of her life. Not to mention that Lee and Gai had just _had _to come in and make life that much more interesting. She loved her exuberant chief and his just-as-energetic protégée, but sometimes they were a little over the top.

Looking down, the police officer realized her hat was still in her hands. Certainly must've been a long day so far, she thought wryly. She didn't even take the hat out of her car when making arrests. Although she did have her reasons for that, certainly; it truly was an ugly hat.

"Woah, that's a cool hat! Can I try it on?" Clearly, her opinion was not shared by the blonde idiot who'd just accosted her.

She turned her head to face Naruto. "Absolutely not," she said, pulling it away from his groping hands. He probably had lice. Or maybe stupidity was contagious. No, no, she reasoned, then she would've caught it from Lee or Gai. Either way, there was no way Tenten was going to let the trombonist steal her hat. However ugly it may be.

Seeing she wasn't going to relinquish it without at least a decent fight, Naruto began to pout. "Please? Come on, I'll give it back." Still, Tenten held it as far away from him as possible. "Is this because I hit on you yesterday? Because if it is, I'm really sorry. It's kinda a habit for me to flirt with all the dolls I see. It's all my second trombone teacher's fault. Really."

"No, it's not that," she told him, raising an eyebrow. "Why in the world is it your teacher's fault that you're desperate?" Tenten questioned.

"Hey! I'm not _desperate_. It's a habit. And it's because he's the world's biggest pervert ever. You'd probably hate him," Naruto laughed. "But it'd be so funny if I got the two of you in the same room. Although maybe not. You're kinda like his sheba (1). Except you haven't shown any violent tendencies. Yet. You don't normally punch people through walls, right?" he asked, his blue eyes widening in worry.

Tenten's eyes narrowed slightly as she thought. "Wait, what did you say your teacher's name was?" she queried.

"Huh? Well, his real name's Jiraiya. How come?"

"Tsunade's lover?" Tenten half-gasped. "She's my idol. About fifteen years ago she became the first female police officer, and I've heard she's really really good at what she does. I'd love to meet her some day."

Naruto chuckled. "What? The old lady? But she's crazy. And you know about her and her booze, right?"

Almost immediately, Tenten's eyes narrowed into a full-blown glare, her posture becoming far less friendly. "Everyone has their vices," she retorted, her tone clipped.

"Then why does she get to have hers when the people at Ichiraku's can't have theirs?" he parlayed.

The brunette shook her head. "It's not like that. She gave up alcohol when Prohibition came into law."

He just scrutinized her and then grinned widely. "Well, anyway. We're here!" he exclaimed, spreading his arms wide like an artist presenting his magnum opus. Ichiraku's was right in front of them.

"Wait, I never even told you I was coming here," Tenten began, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion and slight surprise.

Grinning widely, Naruto put his hands on his hips proudly. "It's cause I'm way smarter than anyone says-Ow!" Suddenly, he was gone from Tenten's line of vision. She glanced down to see him sprawled on the ground.

"I see," she replied dryly as the blonde man jumped up and brushed himself off. Maybe Naruto wasn't as smart as they came. He was perceptive, though, with a natural ease with others that Tenten knew she'd never have. It wasn't only her; she'd seen glimpses the day before when he had made everyone else at ease at one point or another.

She must have been staring off for a moment too long. Naruto grabbed her hand and dragged her through the double-doors. "Come on, don't just stand there! Shikamaru's gonna yell at me for being late!"

Huffing, Tenten reclaimed her hand from him, frowning deeply. She didn't want him to think he could dare to touch her in such a familiar manner. Still, she followed after him, countering his short, springy steps with her long, measured strides.

As they reached the table, Temari grinned in an almost-predatory manner. "Finally!" she said. "Shikamaru was just saying that he'd be willing to sing right as soon as you got here. Isn't that right, Shikamaru?" the woman nearly growled. "Oh, hello there, wet blanket," she added dryly as she noticed Tenten, who bridled at the comment but didn't reply.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, troublesome woman. I'm going." Still, he made no move to move from his seat. "You're a pain in the ass, Naruto," he said as the blonde attempted to carry on a conversation with a blushing Hinata and bounce towards the stage at the same time. "What even took you so long?"

Before Naruto had a chance to reply, though, Temari shoved Shikamaru out of his seat. "Never mind what took him so long! Go up and sing already, and stop complaining."

He muttered something that sounded suspiciously like '_Women_,' but before either Temari or Tenten could protest he was on stage, standing in front of a microphone. For one so lazy, it seemed he could move quickly enough when the situation called for it. As the crowd cheered and Tenten took a seat, he asked the band to start up a song Tenten had never even heard of.

A few bars before he even began to sing, Tenten recognized it as a blues piece. Shikamaru had a good voice for the blues, she thought offhandedly as he made his lackadaisical entrance into the music. The music suited him perfectly. It was slower, seemingly lacking the vitality of the more modern jazz pieces. His drawl echoed through the room, and Tenten smiled slightly. Sure, he was good at other music, but Shikamaru was _made_ to sing the blues.

Her eyes shifted to Naruto, who seemed to be holding back, his trombone muted and his body language far less energetic. If Shikamaru was best suited for the blues, then Naruto was jazz personified. Louder and boisterous, Naruto was the more modern, easier-to-dance-to music that had stemmed from the blues.

"What do you think?" came a voice from her right side. Her attention pulled away from the music, Tenten shifted slightly to face who she recalled as Neji.

"He's amazing," she admitted, then paused. _"They're_ amazing," she corrected.

Neji gave her a puzzled smile. "You're not going to lie about it?" he asked her. "It doesn't serve your purpose to say that Shikamaru's good, much less the entire band," he pointed out reasonably. "Besides, you don't seem the type to be friendly with people like them... people like us."

She only shrugged. "What reason is there to lie?" she asked. "They're good; you know it and I know it. Even if I don't seem like I'd be friendly with them, I don't think I should tell lies about how good they are at their professions. Anyway, they're good enough people, I suppose." Tenten folded her arms grudgingly. "Naruto and I had some time to talk together on our way here. How do you know them, anyway?"

Neji frowned thoughtfully. "Well, Temari works with Hinata–my cousin–and a few months ago, she told us about Ichiraku's. Since then, she's made it a daily habit to drag myself and Hinata along on her trips here. Naruto was curious about us because we came so often, so when he wasn't playing, he started to come to our table. And... Shikamaru just followed along," he said, to which Tenten nodded. It made enough sense. After all, it seemed like they _were_ here every day. While that was natural for Shikamaru and Naruto, it would have been a curiosity for the rest of them.

"Where do Temari and Hinata work?" Tenten queried, slightly impressed. Not many women took jobs. Although, she decided as she glanced over at the clothing and jewelry each woman wore, such items weren't free. "And where do you work?" she wondered. He was well-dressed, also. Were all of them so rich? Tenten couldn't help but be slightly jealous. Police officers weren't paid exceptionally well; females in the trade were paid even less than their male counterparts.

"Temari is a secretary for a small company, and Hinata is a bookkeeper for that same company. As for myself, I work as a lawyer."

Tenten had to force herself not to gape. She had a few professions in mind, but a lawyer was not one of them. "That's fairly impressive. But it's quite a few years of school, correct? So you're, what, 28 or so?" she asked him curiously.

He actually glared at Tenten, which almost made her laugh. "I'm 24, actually," he corrected. "I finished all of my schooling at 23."

This time, Tenten couldn't keep her jaw from dropping. "What are you, some kind of genius or something?" she asked him, incredulous. Either he'd only spent five years in college when the requirement was seven years, or he'd graduated high school quite early.

Neji chuckled quietly. "If you'd like to call me that, sure. I simply graduated high school a year early, and I finished law school a year early, as well," he informed her.

Leaning back in her chair, Tenten drummed her fingers against the table. She was quite impressed. Law school was rumored to be very difficult. But for some reason, he seemed uncomfortable talking about his accomplishments. He spoke clearly enough, but he looked to the side, as if it was something he didn't want to reveal. She almost smirked; he wasn't the type to need others to applaud his merits, that was for certain. "Do you like it? Being a lawyer, that is?" Tenten wondered aloud.

"It has its good points. It has its bad points, too, but what job doesn't? I'm just pleased I have a job that pays well and is enjoyable enough." He leaned forward slightly. "What about you?" he asked. She looked up curiously, unsure exactly what he was asking. "Do you like your job?"

"Absolutely," she told him, not even hesitating a fraction of a second. To her, there was no question in that. "I mean, sometimes it's tiring, and there are some low points, but it's what I've always wanted to do. I love it," Tenten said. She met Neji's interested gaze and raised an eyebrow. "But what's it matter to you? I mean, I thought you were under the impression that being a female police officer was... ah, 'ludicrous enough,'" she quoted.

Neji placed his elbow on the table and propped his chin on his hand. "I thought about that, actually. Maybe it's not. I suppose if you're so dedicated to this town, and if you can take care of yourself, being a female police officer isn't as ridiculous as I'd first thought."

At this, Tenten absolutely beamed. He was nice, she'd decided. Maybe her first impression of him had been wrong. He could be nice when he wanted to be, and he wasn't a complete misogynistic pig. Maybe he had sight chauvinistic tendencies, but clearly he was smart enough to overcome them.

Not to mention he was handsome, especially sitting like that and smiling at her, his lips just turned up a little bit at the corners, set in his strong jaw beneath soft, lavender eyes...

No, she told herself firmly. She couldn't be thinking like that, even if it was true. Even if he was nice and attractive, she couldn't pay attention to any of that. She was on one side, and he was on the other. They both had their parts to play, and falling in love wasn't written in the music. This wasn't a blues-inspired love song; it was just another jazz song about two strangers in a speakeasy. Still, she nodded at him and told him, "thanks." Because it was a nice thing to say. And even better if he meant it.

Before anything more could be said, though, the song Shikamaru was singing ended, and Naruto swung his trombone down. Within a few moments, the two were at the table, Naruto chattering loudly to Hinata already. Tenten couldn't help but smile ruefully at how clueless he seemed, just blathering on as Hinata seemed to try to impersonate a tomato. She'd thought him perceptive. Maybe she was wrong on that, judging how he acted around a girl who obviously didn't have enough spine to ask him out.

"How did you like it?" a voice cut in through her thoughts.

Tenten faced Shikamaru and sighed, deciding there was no use not submitting to the facts. "You sing really well, and the band's good." A small half-smile on her face, Tenten looked at Shikamaru. "The blues suit you, you know."

Shikamaru snorted. "That's what Temari keeps telling me, but I always thought it was just an excuse to get me to start singing already, since she's so impatient all of the time," he said as he turned to Temari and smirked.

The blonde woman just rolled her eyes and looked at Tenten. "What do you know about music, anyway? I have my doubts that you're the type to listen to it, exactly," she snapped.

Tenten scowled. "I wasn't aware you knew everything about me and my life," she retorted calmly. "Besides, I've been involved in classical music for a long time. I still play, actually. Which is closer than _you've_ probably ever been to music, I'd wager."

"Oh, please," Temari scoffed. "Classical music. That hardly counts as anything. It's so boring, and it's only for old, stuffy, rich people."

Glancing at Temari, Tenten only just managed to keep from rolling her eyes. "What, do you think jazz spawned itself out of nothing? Classical music was there first! It's pretty much the basis of every modern type of music that you love so much." She could feel her temper rising.

Before Temari could reply, though, Naruto's voice cut through their conversation. "And then, I–_BAM! _punched him across the face, and–woah!" Ichiraku's chairs clearly weren't meant to be leaned back in, much as Naruto had been tilting on the back two legs of his. The ominous creaking and cracking had been drowned out by his enthusiastic narrative, and finally the abused chair gave way underneath him. "Ow!" he roared as he tumbled to the ground with a crash.

Temari snorted, Neji chuckled, Shikamaru shook his head and smiled and Hinata began to giggle helplessly. Tenten couldn't help but hide a grin of her own behind her hand. "Do you need a hand... a hand up?" Hinata said brokenly, her quiet giggles breaking through her words.

"No need!" Naruto said as he jumped up from the wreckage. "Everything is Jake(2), Hinata! You don't need to be worried about me," he said in a gracious tone, and Hinata blushed and looked away.

"Never admit you cared," Temari snickered as Naruto looked down at the wreckage of his chair, frowning.

"What happened?" two voices asked. Naruto looked up, surprised, into the eyes of the other speaker: Ichiraku. "Huh? I'm not sure. I was just tilting back. It's not my fault that your chairs are cheap," he defended as Hinata bit her lip to keep more giggles at bay.

Ichiraku stood akimbo and looked down his nose at the blonde male. "Why is it that you're responsible for all of the damage in my poor restaurant?" he demanded. "I've had customers fatter than you who had no problems keeping their chairs in one piece. Do you have money on you?" he demanded.

"Only enough for my drinks..." Naruto began reluctantly.

"Go wash dishes."

"WHAT?" Naruto cried out, his eyes wide and helpless. Seeing Ichiraku wasn't budging from his conviction, he turned desperately to the rest of the table. "Guys! Help me out! I don't wanna go wash dishes!" he exclaimed as everyone around the table pointedly looked away from him. He pouted churlishly. "Fine. Fine, be that way. This is bushwa(3)." And so Naruto headed off to the kitchen, looking quite disappointed.

Shikamaru was the first to chuckle. Then no one could stop them. All six were laughing and trying to control themselves. Tenten was the first to get into some semblance of gravity. "What was he even going on about, Hinata?" she wondered aloud.

"Apparently one of his friends or his rivals or something from school. Uh, they sort of, got in a fight. He was... describing it," she said, smiling ruefully.

Temari rolled her eyes. "Describing it? More like acting it out. Hey, hey, Hinata," she said, a conspirational glint suddenly appearing in her eyes. "You should go in and wash dishes with him. I mean, you could always say Ichiraku sent you to make sure he doesn't break anything." Hinata smiled thoughtfully, seeming to like the idea. Neji, however, was scowling Oh, don't give me that look, Hyuuga," she snapped, as Neji was then looking as if he'd been forced to swallow a rather large lemon whole.

Hinata grinned and made her way to the kitchen, while Tenten tried not to snort. The whole thing was getting slightly ridiculous to her, and the way that Temari insisted in implicating herself annoyed her even more.

"Anyway, Tenten, was it?" Ichiraku asked politely. Tenten turned her attention to him and nodded. "Good to see you today. How are you liking things? Except for Naruto, of course, but I really can't help him."

"Who can?" Temari interjected carelessly.

Tenten smiled guardedly. "Are you trying to make me make a decision two weeks and six days early, Mr. Ichiraku?" she asked as she leaned back in her chair. Her fingers drummed carelessly on the top of the table.

Ichiraku grinned. "I'd never dream of it," he told her, his tone slick. Tenten raised her eyebrows but didn't pursue the issue any further. "Anyhow. Have you at least been enjoying the music and the company?" he asked her.

"The music, definitely. You have talented musicians. As for the company, well, I've been enjoying some of it," she said, her gaze level on Ichiraku even as she heard Temari make a disparaging noise behind her.

The owner of the bar gave a knowing smile. "You're finding Mr. Hyuuga more pleasant to talk to than Miss Temari over here, correct?"

Tenten tried not to flail too much, although she knew from the burning feeling in her face her cheeks were beginning to redden. "I-uh, what makes you say that?" she demanded, rather flustered. Neji pretended not to notice her reaction, but Shikamaru smirked and Temari grinned ferally.

"Neji's easier conversation than our Temari, of course," Ichiraku chuckled. "Or at least he learned how to be polite. That was a lesson that Miss Temari missed out on," he said, successfully swinging the attention to Temari, who scowled. "Anyway, I'd better be back in my kitchen. If Naruto's broken anything else I'll cast a kitten(4). Nice to see you again, Miss–no, Officer Tenten. Come in again soon," he said, waving over his shoulder as he made his way towards the kitchen.

A few moments after he had disappeared through the still-swinging doors, Tenten stood up, as well. "I suppose I should be gone, as well, she said. Shikamaru lifted a hand in a lazy farewell nod and Temari graced her with a curt nod.

"Tenten?" came Neji's voice, clear and maybe a bit hesitant. "You seemed somewhat different, I suppose, today," he said, choosing his words carefully. "Maybe a bit..." he began, but he stopped himself. 'A bit nicer' probably wouldn't have been the best thing to say, anyway, he decided, and it was better to say nothing than something stupid. "Have a good day, at any rate."

"Yeah, you too," Tenten replied, her eyebrows knit in bafflement as she stood up and grabbed her ugly hat off of the table. What a odd fella, she thought as she made her way out of the door. Nice? Yes. Handsome? Sadly, yes. But he was also somewhat unpredictable, and somehow he kept throwing her off-kilter.

This whole thing was going to be a lot harder than she had first expected, she thought sullenly as she placed one of her hands on her hips. She'd forgotten. She'd completely forgotten what she had gone to the bar for in the first place. Tenten felt a dull pang of shame. How could she keep the town good for her mother if she couldn't even focus?

In the beginning, she hadn't thought Ichiraku's was going to be a challenge, but she was starting to get worried.

. . .

1920s slang dictionary!

1) Girlfriend or lover

2) OK, as in 'everything is fine'

3) Euphemism for bullshit.

4) Throw a fit.


	3. Glass Half Empty

**AN: **Hello, all! Thanks for the nice reviews and the favs and alerts. Hope you enjoy this chapter. =)

_**Strawberry Daiquiri**_

_Chapter Three; Glass Half-Empty_

Neji groaned quietly and switched his alarm clock off. He was tired, but he had an important case to deal with today. The thought would have made him laugh, were he not so tired. _Important_, he thought, shaking his head wryly as he went to his closet. _More like self-important_.

Those who he worked for usually grated on his nerves. In Neji's eyes, almost all of them were simply fat, self-obsessed businessman. Real people, it seemed, didn't venture anywhere near law firms.

Naruto's laugh flashed across his memory, followed by Hinata's shy blush, Shikamaru's lazy singing, Temari's glaring eyes, and Tenten's reluctant smile. Neji couldn't help as a smile of his own slipped onto his lips. When he'd had enough of greedy politicians and corpulent business owners, there was a place he used as a retreat from it all.

It wasn't even eight in the morning, and Neji was already looking forward to his daily trip to Ichiraku's.

. . .

Absentmindedly, Neji took another sip of his drink. It was a Strawberry Daiquiri, again. No matter how mercilessly Temari would tease him about the 'dame's drink,' he couldn't stop drinking it. Not only was the taste good, but it reminded him of the day Tenten had whirled in and thrown everything upside down.

"I can't believe you have the nerve to drink that while I'm here!"

_Ah. Right on cue_. Neji looked over to Tenten, who was looming over their table and scowling at them each in turn. Hinata looked down at her hands abashedly, much to Neji's amusement. She wasn't even drinking; she never did. He, Shikamaru, and Naruto all pushed their glasses away slightly, but Temari only raised an eyebrow tauntingly and took a sip from her gin. "Honestly," Tenten growled, literally wrenching the drink out of Temari's hands and placing it in front of herself before she took a seat.

Shikamaru sighed and rose from his seat, stretching his arms as he nudged his chair back into place. "I'm bored. Let's go back up, Naruto," he demanded tiredly.

"No, no! I wanna stay around and talk to Tenten," Naruto insisted, crossing his arms. Although Hinata didn't say a word, a pout fell across her lips, and she visibly deflated. Noticing this, Neji could hardly keep from groaning in frustration; how idiotic could Naruto possibly be, to pursue an clearly uninterested girl when there was another girl who just wished he would spare a glance or two her way?

However, with a speed that alarmed Tenten, Shikamaru yanked on Naruto's chair, forcing the blonde to leap up to avoid crashing to the ground. "No. You want to flirt with Tenten. And she's clearly not interested, so let's go now," he dictated.

Although Naruto did huff rather loudly in protest, he still allowed himself to be led up onto the stage. The moment they were gone, Temari rounded on Tenten. "Look, I don't care if you want your own life to be as boring as possible. That's not my business. My business is that you come in here every day, and I can't even drink something I paid for, let alone get an edge(1) because you want to ruin everyone's good time," she complained.

"Look, I'm doing my job. And if you have a problem with my presence, maybe you should take it up with Shikamaru, who's the one who suggested this three-week deal in the first place," Tenten shot back. "Or you could just make homemade liquor and drink it there, at home," she added in a mutter. "Blow yourself up and save me some trouble."

Temari pursed her lips; she hadn't quite caught the last part of Tenten's comment, but she figured she probably didn't need to know. "What's your obsession with keeping your town clean for anyways?" she asked bitterly. "And pipe down with the 'I'm doing my job' nonsense. There are plenty of bulls(2) who don't give two cares either way if Ichiraku sells bootleg."

The tune of whatever song Shikamaru was starting to sing faintly registered in the back of Tenten's mind, but she kept her attention on the annoyed blonde in front of her. "I have personal reasons for wanting to keep the town a good place to live," she replied, fighting to keep her tone detached.

"What if I said I had personal reasons for drinking?" Temari replied, rolling her eyes at Tenten. She was slowly getting frustrated with the evasiveness of the other woman's answers to her questions.

Tenten's initial reply was an undignified snort. "What would constitute as a personal reason for drinking? Alcoholism, perhaps?" she questioned in honeyed tones.

A quite unladylike sneer crossed Temari's features, curling her lip up and wrinkling under her eyes and across her forehead. "I was being sarcastic. Have your saintly ambitions never caused you to come across simple sarcasm?" the blonde demanded waspishly.

"Of course not," Tenten snapped. "However, it's not so hard for me to believe that you actually are an alcoholic. After all, none of the others seem to have qualms about my coming here and asking them to follow the law."

Neji and Hinata, who had quietly been conversing about simpler, more pleasant topics, looked up quickly. "Don't go implicating us in your fights," Neji replied calmly before he turned back to Hinata and distracted her from the warring women with a question about her work.

After glancing at the two cousins for a moment, Temari turned back to Tenten. "That's because none of the rest ever say anything to indicate they're bothered. Neji probably deals with enough arguing at work to make him sick of it, Shikamaru's too lazy to bother with anything unless _I_ convince him to, Naruto's enamored with you because you're female and you walk on two legs, and Hinata doesn't drink, and beside that she doesn't have the _nerve_ to tell anyone when they're annoying her."

At this comment, Tenten shrugged her shoulders. "I think if anyone cared enough they'd at least say something. Anyway, what's your excuse?" At Temari's perplexed expression, the police officer continued on. "What's your excuse for being bothered so much by my presence that you have to fight me over it whenever you have a chance? Are you honestly that enamored with alcohol?" she wondered.

Temari bristled. "Of course not. I'm not an alcoholic," she defended herself. "You just make it so tiresome to be here. I want to have fun after a hard day at work, and you just kill everything. You're such a flat tire(3)!"

"How am I ruining your fun?" Tenten demanded. "I have no problem with whatever you want to do, as long as you're not breaking the law. After all, I would have been content to not get in an argument, except for you were the one who rounded on me. What is it? Do you think you can't have fun without alcohol?"

For a few moments, Temari was silent. Assuming the conversation was over, Tenten nearly turned away. "Well, it helps," Temari said almost lamely. She was saved from any further debate by the arrival of Naruto and Shikamaru, who had just concluded another song and had returned. Temari looked up and pursed her lips. "Shikamaru, you should talk to her. She won't listen to reasoning."

Tenten shook her head. "No, you're wrong. I won't listen to _bad_ reasoning," she said, her tone mocking.

Temari's only reply was to 'hmph!' quietly and turn away as Shikamaru sighed and sat next to Tenten. "Will you just relax about it? You and Temari are always getting into it," he sighed. "Can I get you a soda or something?" Shikamaru asked, trying to change the topic.

"I'd really rather not give this place my patronage," Tenten said, her tone dispassionate.

With a chuckle, Shikamaru shook his head. "What, you think the one drink that you don't buy will make a difference? Be rational."

She scoffed. "I am being rational, thank you very much. If every day a few more people didn't buy a soda, maybe eventually some change could be made. Maybe this place would go bankrupt, like it should," she said firmly.

"Do you really think people are about to boycott Ichiraku's? People like it here, Tenten," he told her, his arms spread wide to gesture at the laughing and chatting customers.

"They like it here because they can break the law and no one will bother to stop them or even say anything about it! They like it here because they can do what they want without consequences!"

Leaning back in his chair, Shikamaru fished a lighter out of his pocket, and he lit his cigarette. "With you being a police officer, I thought you would have come to grips with the fact that people break the laws sometimes," he intoned, his voice bland.

"Oh, so that means it's acceptable to flout the law because it's human nature?" Tenten demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

Shikamaru looked up and smirked slightly. "Well, why not?" he querried, his tone joking. By now entire party, as well as a few other tables, were fixated on the rather one-sided argument going on.

Annoyed by Shikamaru's easygoing replies and the attention of so many bystanders, Tenten could feel her temper rising. "For starters, I could just bump you off(4) right here and right now, and if there were no laws against it, nothing would be wrong with that."

"Everyone's gotta die someday," was his contented reply. Slowly, his eyes closed and he slouched even more in the high-backed chair.

Before she could stop herself, Tenten brought her fist down on the table, making the full drinks slosh ever so slightly. "What is with you?" she demanded. "I'm trying to have a decent argument here, and you're treating it like a joke. As a matter of fact, you're treating me like _I'm_ a joke right now, and I don't appreciate that. I get enough disrespect from others at my job, and I was under the impression that you were at least intelligent enough not to bait others!"

By now, the occupants of more than a few surrounding tables had tuned into the conversation. Neji sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Get back to your own business," he demanded, his voice loud enough for the eavesdroppers to appreciate. Then he looked over at Shikamaru. "Stop acting like a silly child," he suggested, his tone cold. "You need to learn how to discuss something like an adult." He had watched as Tenten's temper rose and Shikamaru just exacerbated things by attempting to avoid conflicts.

Hinata shrunk away, wondering if anyone would notice if she slipped away to the bathroom. She had never been too fond of scenes, and the attention from strangers, albeit not directed at her, was quite unnerving. However, Naruto was by her side, and he showed no signs of chagrin. The black-haired young woman sighed; she wished that someday she could grow to be as self-confident as he was.

In the meantime, Temari hid her laughter behind her hand. Sure, Shikamaru was being more than a bit of a jerk. She knew he could be like that. But the joke was on Tenten, and it was oh-so-delicious. Watching the brunette burn with anger was both amusing and fascinating. Leaning forward and setting her chin in her hand, Temari awaited the next move.

"Well, it's good to know I'm not the only one to notice that you're being completely immature," Tenten shot at Shikamaru, who had slouched even lower down in his chair, as if he was trying to escape further verbal attacks.

"So you want me to discuss this 'like an adult?'" Shikamaru inquired, eying Tenten steadily as he took a long drag of his cigarette.

Tenten ran her fingers lightly through her hair, pushing flyaway strands away from her eyes. "Yes. _Yes_. Did I not imply that enough for you to notice?" She'd thought he was intelligent, but today he seemed intent on abolishing that particular notion.

"All right." He took another drag from his cigarette and then pulled it away from his lips, leaving it to dangle in his fingertips. "Here's the problem," he said, gesturing at Temari's drink, much to the company's surprise and confusion.

Her eyebrows shot up until they were in danger of escaping into her hairline. "Alcohol? Yes, that is the problem. Thanks for agreeing. However, I thought you were of the opposing opinion," she replied caustically.

"Not the alcohol. I pointed at Temari's drink–not my drink, nor Neji's, Hinata's, or Naruto's–for a reason. How much liquid is in there, Tenten?" he asked, his voices as lackadaisical and rational as always.

Automatically, Tenten's eyes narrowed. "What is this, some kind of bad humor?" she nearly growled. "You've treated me like a joke enough for today, I think."

Shikamaru sighed. "No. It's not a joke. Nor am I making fun of you. Just tell me how much liquid is in the glass, and then I'll argue with you 'like an adult,'" he quoted for the second time in a few moments.

Although she still didn't trust him, Tenten decided she might as well answer. "The glass is half-empty. Can we get on with it now?" she demanded, visibly still confused. She wasn't alone; all of the table except for Shikamaru wore similarly perplexed expressions.

"There's your problem. You have the mind set to see a glass half-empty. It's not only the glass, either, that you see as this way. To me, it seems like you see the world as failing. In your opinion, the world once was full of morals and good people and strong values, and they even still exist today. But you act like these values are slipping away from us, and conditions get worse the longer time goes on. If the glass if half-empty, it's not long before someone drinks the last half."

As silence fell over his companions, Shikamaru reached a hand out and slid the glass slightly closer to him. "What if the glass is half-full? Things are getting better, not worse. The world is thriving and growing, and although there's always room for improvement, sometimes the modern way of thought is the best. It's not long before someone comes along and fills the glass up the rest of the way, if you think it's half-full." He let go of the glass and replaced his cigarette between his lips. "Was that mature enough for you?" he asked rhetorically, though his words were muffled by the cigarette.

Temari smiled at this, and Naruto beamed. Hinata's small smile made its way slowly onto her lips, and Neji drummed his fingers on the tabletop, thoughtful. Tenten leaned back in her chair, impressed in spite of herself. If Shikamaru had been trying to make himself look like a fool earlier, he had completely redeemed himself. Carefully, she considered her next words.

"Would you like something to drink?" Tenten was spared the reply when Ichiraku seemingly came out of nowhere, leaning down to her kindly with a tray of drinks in his hand. He'd waited until it seemed like things were cooled down enough. Maybe, just maybe, the bar-owner had thought, Shikamaru would have talked her around.

Tenten met Shikamaru's dark eyes as everyone else watched carefully. A moment later, her chocolate gaze broke away and swung to Ichiraku. "Yeah. I suppose I would."

Neji smiled and took another sip of his drink.

. . .

1920s slang dictionary!

1) Buzz, slight intoxication

2) Police officers

3) Boring person

4) To kill someone


	4. Sunflowers

**AN: **Sorry it's late! Enjoy. =)

_**Strawberry Daiquiri**_

_Chapter Four; Sunflowers_

When Tenten was ushered through Ichiraku's front doors, her ears were immediately met by the sounds of Shikamaru's singing and the instrumental medley in the background. So Naruto hadn't waited so he could flirt with her, she thought, smiling wryly. That was probably a good thing, especially considering everyone's reactions to his attempts.

She sat down in her regular place: right in between Neji and Shikamaru's currently vacant spot. Two spots to her right, Temari sat, her chin in her hand, and gazed intently at Shikamaru.

Temari's blonde hair was curled in a very wave-like manner, and no hats or headbands hid it from view. As pretty as her hair was, though, it was her dress that caught Tenten's attention. The purple garment fell only a little past Temari's knees, and it was figuratively dripping with silver beading. It really was striking, the police officer thought as she relaxed in her chair.

Maybe she didn't like Temari's opinions or sometimes even the way that she thought. However, Tenten could respect that the blonde woman had both strength and femininity at the same time and never had to sacrifice either, as Tenten often felt the need to. Besides, she really did have good fashion sense, Tenten noted.

As she leaned forward to tell Temari that, she felt a hand on her wrist. "What?" she asked quietly as she turned to look into Neji's light eyes.

"Whatever you were going to say can wait. You probably shouldn't bother her while she's listening to Shikamaru," he instructed her.

Glancing over at Temari, Tenten raised an eyebrow. "And why's that?" she wanted to know.

Neji shrugged. "She always gets mad when that happens." Tenten chuckled quietly and Neji smiled in reply. "Would you like a soda?" he asked her.

It could have been that Shikamaru's arguments the previous days had effected her. Or maybe it was just that Neji was smiling. Something, though, was messing with her judgement, Tenten decided. Still, she gave him a grin of her own. "Sure."

"Ichiraku! I need a soda over here," Neji called over the sound of the band.

Although he was looking a bit hassled, Ichiraku raised a hand in acknowledgment from the bar. "I'll have it in a minute!" he promised.

Tenten's attention had been drawn over to Shikamaru, who had just begun a new song. While he sung, he often glanced over to and occasionally winked at Temari, much to Tenten's mixed amusement and chagrin. In response, Temari just scowled. However, there was a telltale blush spread across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. When it appeared Shikamaru wasn't staring at Temari, though, a small smile would replace the scowl.

After watching them for a few moments, Tenten glanced away, feeling like she'd seen something far more private and even loving than a man simply singing to a woman. "What's going on between them, anyway?" she muttered surreptitiously to Neji. Hinata, who had overheard, giggled quietly, but in the next instant her gaze turned back to Naruto.

Again, Neji shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not even sure _they_ know what's going on. Whatever it is, it's not going great, though," he murmured.

Tenten's eyebrows drew together in her surprise. "Really?" she wondered aloud. To her, it certainly didn't appear to be going badly.

"Well, Temari's fairly new to town," Neji conceded. "She only came here a few months ago. She's what people consider the epitome of a flapper: she loves to party, and she's certainly not willing to settle down yet. Shikamaru's kind of the opposite. He's content to stay here, sing, and raise a family. 'A wife who's not ugly and not pretty, and two kids, the first a girl and the second a boy.' That's exactly what he said once," he told her, rolling his eyes. "Temari seems, at least to him, to be trying to turn his entire life upside down. She wants to move around, to go where the wind blows her, and if she wants kids or marriage, I suppose they're both a long way in coming," Neji summarized.

Whistling lowly, Tenten looked over at Temari once more. "I feel a bit bad for her, now. That's definitely a bit of a predicament."

Neji made a face. "Don't," he advised her abruptly. "Don't pity her, that is. She wouldn't like that. Besides, it's not like it's not consensual. He and Temari made an agreement." He smirked a bit. "Shikamaru told me they slept together, and afterwards Temari told him she wanted more time to have fun before having a serious relationship. Frankly, she seems a bit wary of long-term commitments," he said.

"Huh," Tenten mused, going back to her habit of drumming her fingertips on the tabletop. "What's Shikamaru's stance on this whole predicament, then?"

"He says he's not up for a long-term relationship yet," Neji said dryly. "Which basically means that he's too lazy to say anything or disagree with any of Temari's decisions, so he'll probably wait for her. Even then, though, she'll have to do a bit of convincing. Relationships are too much effort for Shikamaru," he snorted.

She laughed quietly. "Yeah, that definitely seems like him. "Speaking of waiting, what's up with Naruto and Hinata?" Tenten asked curiously, leaning forward slightly. She was warming up to the conversation. She wasn't a gossip-monger like one of her old friends, Ino, yet she liked to know things about others. Research was a specialty of hers, and it extended to people-research, too. "Is anything ever going to happen there, or will Hinata die with her love unrequited?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

Massaging the bridge of his nose with his fingertips, Neji sighed. "She's admired him since she first started coming here," he muttered. "You know how Temari says he flirts with every woman he sees? He doesn't even try anything with Hinata. I don't think he knows she exists sometimes," he muttered. Both had lowered their voices so that Hinata wouldn't catch their conversation, although they needn't have worried; she was engrossed with Naruto's playing.

"What's there to admire? I mean, his desperation is pretty amazing, but I wouldn't say it's quite admirable. And what's your opinion? I mean, you're her cousin, right? So are you overprotective like most relatives?" Tenten queried.

Her first question drew a quiet laugh from Neji. "He's very determined. Hinata sometimes feels... well, it's not my business to tell you. However, Naruto's will inspires her. He never gives up, no matter what. After all, he used to be one of the worst trombonists ever." Tenten's eyes widened in surprise, and Neji nodded. "No, I'm not joking," he said, interpreting her expression correctly. "He was humiliating."

"That's insane," Tenten replied. "He's amazing right now."

Neji nodded. "That's true, but he used to be awful. He just worked hard and got some of the best players ever to instruct him. But anyway, to Hinata he's an amazing inspiration, and her feelings have changed from respect to... well, maybe love. Who knows? Anyway, I am a little protective of her, I suppose, but like you said, most relatives are that way. Besides, I don't think Naruto could ever intentionally hurt someone. It's part of his charm." He played with a strand of his hair uninterestedly. "Although he_ is_ just a moron."

"Well, isn't he kinda hurting her by not even acknowledging her? Sometimes she looks a little torn up over the whole issue," Tenten said, casting a look in Hinata's direction. She was still deaf to their conversation, watching Naruto with a starry-eyed look. However, the slump in her shoulders gave voice to her quieter feelings.

He shrugged. "I said he could never _intentionally_ hurt someone. However, what he does to Hinata seems very _un_intentional. He needs more of a push to bring Hinata to his attention, and she's not willing to put herself in the spotlight. Not only is she shy, she also is very traditional about dating. In her opinion, it is the man's job to make the first move."

"I'll fix that," Temari suddenly announced, leaning in to join their tête-à-tête. Apparently she'd broken out of her trance. Shikamaru would miss her attention, Tenten contemplated wryly as she rolled her eyes at the statement. In reply, Temari scoffed quietly. "Obviously you don't believe in changing things; you'd rather just sit back and accept bullshit whenever you see it."

"If that were the case, I would be drinking with you people rather than enforcing the law," Tenten retorted.

Temari laughed humorlessly. "I said you'd rather sit back and accept bullshit. People having fun and trying to relax after a hard day isn't bullshit. Trying to keep people from doing what they want is, though."

"Please. Don't act like I'm such a horrible person when all I'm doing is enforcing the law. The amendment was implemented so that people could lead healthier and more productive lives, not to interfere with your carnal pleasures. That was just a fortunate side-effect," came Tenten's sharp repartee.

Sighing quietly, Neji pulled away and leaned back in his chair. They'd be at this for a while, he realized, and he wasn't about to stick his own neck in and risk getting yelled at or implicated in the fight. Instead, he attempted to tune them out.

Though Neji may have been above such spatting, Temari wasn't about to just give up. "The amendment was implemented because promising it would happen was a good way to get easy votes from people too stupid to care about other things in political races. It was also implemented to get your annoying anti-alcohol groups from bothering the politicians and picketing and boycotting."

A sound, sort of a mix between amusement and annoyance, left Tenten's throat. "Not a chance. It was put into effect because people kept drinking at or before work and doing a horrible job, and because liver diseases have started to become more widespread. Not to mention that many fathers drink away their families' money, rather than spending it on things like education," she replied.

Temari rolled her eyes. "So basically it was put into effect because enough business owners don't fire lazy people, because some are too stupid to realize that they might eventually die, and because people tend to be selfish?" she asked rhetorically. Without waiting for a reply, she continued on. "How does it make sense that I'm punished, too? I only drink after work, to relax, and I don't have a family, nor am I planning to have one any time in the near future, so my money only needs to go to me. Besides, people die in car crashes and fires. Why not prohibit vehicles and matches?"

"You can't just ban certain people from something and not others. That wouldn't be fair. So instead we ban everyone. You're not going to die from _not _drinking alcohol, but someone might die from drinking it, or their family might suffer, or their wife might get beaten because they're an alcoholic. So in the end, it's your fun against someone's health or career. Don't flatter yourself thinking that you're important enough to win that battle," Tenten parried.

"What about the dangers of prohibition?" Temari asked. At Tenten's confused expression, she continued on. "Gang crime is on the rise, and alcohol is more expensive at speakeasies. People will continue to want alcohol even if it's outlawed, and if they're willing to go to more desperate measures, then that's more of a risk than just drinking the odd beer every now and then. A wife gets beaten by her alcoholic husband whether he got the beer from a saloon or a speakeasy. But what if a child gets shot on accident by a mobster? There's really only one reason for gang action rising so much in the past few years. And it's not because gangsters like prohibition so much they moved from other countries to come here," the blonde scoffed.

Right before Tenten had her chance to reply, a new voice cut through their conversation. "Ladies, please!" Hinata cried, her high-pitched voice still very intimidated and yet very forceful. You need to be more mature than this. Every time Tenten's here, you're at each other's throats. Don't you have anything better to do than bicker with each other every time you meet?"

Two masculine laughs came from behind the soft-spoken woman, and all three females paused to stare at Shikamaru and Naruto, who had just finished for a while. Shikamaru pulled out his chair and settled beside Temari while Naruto tousled Hinata's hair roughly.

"I'm really impressed that you did that, Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed, smiling brightly. "It was pretty cool, actually!" With one final pat to her head, he sunk down into the chair beside her and stretched his arms out in front of him.

Next to Naruto, Hinata seemed to be trying to fold into herself, her face the color of beets. "Uh, it was n-nothing special. I'm just trying to keep the p-peace," she finished lamely, poking her fingers together.

Naruto made a face. "You don't have to get all shy again, Hinata. Come on, tell me off like you told Tenten and Temari. Tell me to get out of your face," he joked. He started to get nearer and nearer to her as she turned progressively darker shades of red.

"Do you want your drinks or not?" Ichiraku broke the mood when he shouted out across the bar. The entire table turned to face him as he gestured to a small tray that was in front of him. Hinata sighed and sunk back into her chair as Naruto sprang away, his attention now on Ichiraku.

"Just bring them over, why don't you?" Shikamaru called back lazily, stretching his arms out behind his head and slumping in his chair.

Temari smacked him sharply across his arm. "Stop slouching!" she complained, frowning. "You look like a total slob." In reply, he simply rolled his eyes and straightened out as he fished in his pocket for a cigarette.

"I'm not bringing them over to you. You have your own pairs of legs, so why don't you try them out and walk a few feet?" Ichiraku challenged, grinning and then turning back to his customers at the bar.

Pouting, Naruto slunk down in his chair. "Geeze, Ichiraku, do your job. I'm tired from playing," he whined.

"No way!" was the bar owner's quick reply. "Be the man and get your own drink. You're getting as lazy as Shikamaru!" he chuckled. Shikamaru frowned at him, but he didn't bother yelling back, opting instead to push his chair back and begin to stand.

Although he grumbled and whined quietly about it, Naruto did the same. It was only as Tenten saw Neji push his chair back out of the corner of her eye that she began to stand, too. "What are you doing?" Neji asked curiously.

"I don't need anyone else to get something for me," she growled quietly. "I'll be getting my own drink for myself, thank you very much," Tenten informed him. A small frown sat on her face, her eyes daring him to argue.

But Neji put a hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back into the chair. "No. I can get your drink. Even if you are a police officer, you're a woman, and I'm a man. It's not completely unreasonable for me to get your drink." She looked at him hesitantly. He shrugged. "Besides, you have a difficult job. You're on your feet all day long. Allow me to get your drink." He paused. "Please," he added, softly. His lavender eyes met with hers, and finally, she sighed and sat down, blushing and more than just a little bit annoyed.

Before the men left the table, Shikamaru reached down and fingered a strand of Temari's dirty blond hair. "What are you doing?" she demanded. However, she didn't try to pull away from his touch.

In reply, Shikamaru smirked warmly at her. "I dunno. You look good today." Temari stiffened as he pushed her bangs away from her eyes. "I like your hair, Temari. It reminds me of sunflowers." She glowered at him, but as she was blushing a very bright pink, it didn't have much of an effect. Shikamaru chuckled and pushed his hands into the pockets of his trousers before ambling away towards the bar, following Neji and Naruto.

For a few moments, silence reigned over the table. Finally, though, Temari cleared her throat. "I liked your little interruption during our argument. It was pretty brave of you." She chuckled slyly and nudged the girl. "I think Naruto thought it was, too."

Hinata blushed violently and ducked her head. "No way! He probably thinks I'm a total freak now! Or at least more than he usually does."

Tenten couldn't help but scoff. In return, Temari snarled and rounded on her. "What's your problem? I swear, you and your constant obsession with everyone being as somber as humanly possible is really getting on my nerves!"

Tilting her head, Tenten regarded Temari stonily. "I really don't think your pushing Hinata and Naruto together is helping anything."

Taking the bait, Temari raised one of her eyebrows. "Oh, really. And why, oh wise one, is that?" she demanded satirically, flipping her hair over he shoulder and matching Tenten evenly, stare for stare.

"People ought to have a little bit of free will, don't you think?" Tenten asked in reply. "Besides, Hinata isn't helpless. If she wants Naruto badly enough I think she'd be able to talk to him on her own. You're just enabling her to be weak."

Temari glared. "She's a human, not a machine. I'm helping her out, which is the right thing for me, as her friend, to do. Besides, I get to have a little fun, so both sides benefit. Really, I think you're the only one here who sees a problem with this arrangement."

Resting her hand on the table, Tenten broke eye contact with Temari for a moment and glanced over at the men, who seemed to be chatting lightly with Ichiraku. Her eyes returned to Temari's. "What if there isn't even a chance?" she demanded.

A little too late, she realized that maybe she was implying something about Temari's relationship with Shikamaru, too, but she knew she couldn't take her words back. She watched as Temari's eyes left her own and fell on the table. A moment later, Tenten looked down at her own hands and sighed.

"You're right," Temari conceded, her voice strong but a bit sad. Tenten looked up, surprised, but still Temari gazed down at the table. "Sometimes things are hopeless." Her shoulders rose in fell in a shrug, and silence fell over the table for the second time in the evening.

After a few moments had passed, Hinata smiled and leaned forward slightly. "I really like your dress, Temari," she said shyly, gazing over at the blonde's lovely purple gown. Temari lifted her eyes and smiled slightly at Hinata.

"I like your hair, too," Tenten added suddenly, not sure what made her want to make amends. She smiled when her eyes met Temari's. "It really does remind me of sunflowers."

Temari laughed quietly. "Thanks, both of you. I like your hair, too, Tenten. It's such a pretty dark brown," she said, envy audible in her voice. "You know, I bet it'd look really great with a sunflower _in_ it."

Looking at her dubiously, Tenten chuckled. "Are you saying my hair would look good with your hair?" she asked jokingly.

Grinning, Temari leaned toward her and held a strand of her own hair up to Tenten's pulled-back tresses. "Well, what do you think, Hinata? Does it look good?" she asked, her tone amused and curious at once.

"It's lovely," Hinata said honestly, a small smile on her face. Her eyes tilted kindly. "I think we're all lovely," she decided.

Tenten couldn't help but agree. Each in her own way, they were beautiful. Hinata was refined and feminine, and Temari had a brash, new sort of beauty. What her own was, she wasn't sure, but she was sure of one thing:

"Wouldn't we each look good with a fella by our side..." she wondered aloud. Maybe they didn't need the men, wouldn't die without them. Yet there was a wish in her heart.

Temari and Hinata laughed softly at that. "We would..." Hinata said sweetly, her eyes glazing over. The three men at the bar could be heard, chattering with Ichiraku, but Temari and Tenten could only hear Hinata as she whispered "Boy, would we shine..."

Temari nodded. Her smile sad, she murmured, "Brighter than sunflowers..."

Silence fell over the table once more, and this one they let stay.


	5. Busybody

**AN: **This should have come last week, but I got caught up in the holidays. Sorry! Hope you all have an amazing new year! =)

_**Strawberry Daiquiri**_

_Chapter Five; Busybody_

Tenten frowned and reached across the table, tugging on Shikamaru's fedora slightly until it was straight and pulled just the slightest bit more over his eyes. The next moment, she felt five pairs of eyes scrutinizing her. "What?" Tenten demanded, throwing her hands up in the air and almost upsetting her soda.

She heard Hinata stifle a giggle and sighed. "You're acting especially neurotic today, wet blanket," Temari explained, grinning ferally. Since the conversation between herself, Tenten, and Hinata a few days ago, she and Tenten had grown steadily closer.

"I just notice little things like that, stuff other people don't notice. And sometimes they bother me," Tenten explained simply. "Sorry if it offended you or anything," she added to Shikamaru who chuckled and shook his head.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Neji nod. "I can be like that, as well. Untidiness sometimes bothers me."

"That's very true, cousin," Hinata interjected quietly, "but you aren't as willing to touch others as Tenten is."

Neji narrowed his eyes slightly. "Are you saying that I have personal space issues?" he asked her, one of his dark eyebrows raising elegantly as a light blush came Hinata's cheeks and she refused to meet his eyes.

"Everyone knows you have personal space issues!" Naruto laughed. As if to prove that fact and proverbially stick his hand in the lion's mouth, the blonde started to wave his hand directly in front of Neji's face. In response, Neji batted away the offending appendage and leveled a glare at Naruto.

"You're an idiot," Shikamaru and Neji said at the same time, Shikamaru's voice amused and Neji's sounding quite annoyed. They looked over at each other and Shikamaru smirked lazily. "Anyway," the singer drawled, "I'm hungry. Should I call Ichiraku over here?"

Laughing brashly. Temari poked Shikamaru in the shoulder. "You're starting to sound like your friend Chouji," she teased mercilessly, the corners of her eyes crinkling in her mirth and a broad grin across her face.

Pulling away slightly, Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Tch, troublesome woman," he grumbled, but he made no further mention of food.

A few moments later, Hinata perked up. "Oh!" she exclaimed quietly. "Please excuse me for a moment. There's something I forgot in my car," the young woman exclaimed before standing up from the table, pushing her chair back in, and turning towards the doors.

Once she was safely out of earshot, Tenten rounded on Naruto. "Hey, Naruto, what do you think of Hinata?" she asked, managing to keep her tone as disinterested as possible. Temari's eyes widened in surprise, and she stared at Tenten, who only smiled secretively. Before, Tenten had been unwilling to interrupt in Naruto and Hinata's relationship, but now she figured just a little prying wouldn't hurt.

"Huh?" Naruto asked, squinting his eyes in slight confusion. "Whaddya mean? I think she's a nice person. I mean, I used to think she was a total weirdo. But now, well, I think I really like people like her!" he announced.

A comfortable silence fell over the table, everyone there content with Naruto's answer. Outwardly, Neji seemed to be annoyed, but the company could see well that it was only a front that he put up. The very thought made Tenten roll her eyes in exasperated amusement.

"I have to go to the washroom for a minute," Tenten said, breaking the silence. "Temari, would you mind coming with me?" she asked, her head tilted curiously. At Temari's nod of assent, both women stood and wandered off towards the back of the bar.

Naruto huffed. "Why do dames always got to go to the washroom together?" he complained. "It's so _weird_!"

"The only weird thing here is how low your IQ is," Neji muttered under his breath, a sentiment that Shikamaru heard and silently agreed with.

As both young women washed their hands, Temari turned to Tenten. "So did you actually need to use the bathroom, or did you want to talk?" she asked bluntly, turning off the faucet and wiping her hands on one of the provided towels.

Chuckling, Tenten jokingly snatched the towel from Temari. "Well, not really to talk, although I think that Naruto might be developing something for Hinata. Maybe. That's what you're after, isn't it?"

As she grabbed the towel back, Temari smiled wryly. "Well, I suppose it is. It's nice that he's starting to actually notice her. Hopefully this will turn out well for Hinata. Now, was that all?" she asked, turning to the door.

"Actually, no, and that wasn't even the main reason I asked you to come along," Tenten said, shaking her head. "Can I, well... can I fix your hair? Not that anything's wrong with it," she clarified hastily, "I was just looking at and thought of something that might make it look even nicer," she suggested.

Frowning confusedly, Temari turned away from the door. "What, are you going to give up this crazy police officer gig of yours and become a hairstylist instead?" she deadpanned, both eyebrows raised.

Pouting, Tenten shook her head. "Of course not. Don't get excited; you only have a week left before I get to make my final decision, and I have no intention of changing careers before that. So can I do it or not?

Sighing, Temari shrugged. "Yeah, sure, go ahead. Just don't do anything too crazy with it. I don't want to drive Shikamaru away," she said.

"Sit, then," Tenten instructed, waving her hand vaguely at a chair in the corner of the room. Grudgingly, Temari complained, and immediately Tenten began to run her fingers gently through the blonde tresses.

Impatiently, Tenten yanked a few bobby pins from her own hair. Catching Temari's look in the mirror, she frowned. "Calm down. It's not like I have lice or anything. I made sure that stupid police hat wasn't infested before I took it."

Although she said nothing, Temari did give a slight nod of consent, and she closed her eyes as Tenten's hands resumed their gentle tugging and twisting. After a few moments, Tenten fluffed out the ends of Temari's hair and stood back. "There, it's done," she announced as she headed for the door.

Quickly, Temari grabbed Tenten's arm and pulled slightly. "Where are you going? I really like it, and now I want to return the favor," she explained.

"What?" Tenten protested, weakly trying to pull away.

Temari chuckled. "Oh, calm down. I won't hurt it. I already intrusted my own hair to you, so I think you should do the same. You don't even need to sit down, and it won't take a minute," she wheedled.

"Fine," Tenten huffed, yanking her arm out of Temari's grip and putting her hands on her hips. Without another word, Temari began to gently pull pins out of Tenten's hair until there weren't any left, and then she pulled the ties out. Her hands moving quickly, she arranged the brown locks around Tenten's shoulders before turning the other woman to face the mirror.

"What, that's it?" Tenten teased, looking in the mirror. Her hair was slightly wavy from being kept up for so long, and it feel a little past her shoulders. Glancing over at Temari, she nodded happily. "Not to compliment my own skills, but you look nice."

Laughing, Temari played with a lock of her hair, some of which was twisted behind her head and some of which was left down. "Not to compliment _mine_, but you're a doll (1), too. You should leave your hair down more often. Makes you look nicer." Before Tenten could respond to that, Temari pushed her out of the door. "Hinata's probably back, and the you know how socially inept the men are," she explained.

Truly enough, on their reappearance at the table, both women noticed that Hinata was blushing, and Neji and Shikamaru were silent as Naruto babbled on about something inane. As Temari settled next to him, Shikamaru smiled slightly and lifted a hand to finger some of the hair that had been left down. "You have excellent taste, Tenten. It really brings out Temari's gorgeous starry eyes," he complimented, smirking.

"Hmph!" Temari replied, though her stomach backflipped like she was some young teenager in love. Meanwhile, Neji glanced appraisingly at Tenten.

"Was the hair her idea or yours?" he asked her quietly, gesturing vaguely.

Tenten crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. "It was her idea. I don't like my hair down like this. It's so completely irrational, and it gets in my way," she replied, hating the fact that she was whining about her hair to Neji, of all people.

In reply, Neji smirked. "Well, it's not like you're about to fight someone, correct? Nor are you planning to do anything that would require you to have your hair out of your face. Besides, it looks nice," he admitted nonchalantly.

"Thanks," Tenten beamed, hoping she wasn't blushing.

Drumming his fingers impatiently on the table, Naruto rolled his eyes. "_Anyways._ If we're done acting like old ladies over each other's hair," he started, much to Shikamaru and Neji's joint annoyance, "I want some of whatever Hinata got from her car, and she wouldn't let me have any because you guys were in the bathroom, so can we get on with it?" Somehow, this entire complaint came out in one breath.

As Tenten and Temari glanced askance at Naruto, Shikamaru chuckled quietly. "Don't worry too much about him. He's just upset because Hinata smacked him across the hand when he tried to get into the box earlier," he said, gesturing to the plain white box that sat in the middle of the table.

Temari let out a loud, uncouth laugh. "What? Oh, that's great," she said between laughs. "You really did, Hinata?" she asked. "Level with me here. (2)"

Bowing her head demurely, Hinata almost managed to hide her smile. "I had to," she spoke softly, her tone like one admitting to a grave misdeed. "He was trying to sneak one." And with that, Hinata reached to the middle of the table and opened the box of glazed scones.

"All that fuss over a few scones?" Temari baited Naruto as he immediately jumped for the biggest of the scones. Hinata shot him a mild look, and immediately the blonde man shrunk back, much to the company's amusement. "I forgot you got the extras from our meeting, Hinata. It was a good idea," she complimented as Hinata placed the treats on napkins and passed them around the table.

Upon accepting her scone, Tenten almost immediately took a bite from it. She'd always been fairly fond of sweet foods, and the scones certainly didn't disappoint her. Everyone else, she noticed, seemed to like them, also. Stealing a glance at Neji, Tenten smiled. He never had seemed like the type to enjoy sweeter food, yet here he was, happily chewing away. And although Hinata was savoring the scone and eating it very properly, next to her Naruto had already demolished his and was cheerfully licking his fingers.

Noticing Naruto's scone, or lack thereof, Hinata placed her own on her napkin and pushed the white box toward him. "Uhm, here, Naruto. You can have the last two scones if you'd like them," she offered sweetly.

Blue eyes widened, and the man's mouth formed a perfect 'o' shape. "Really Hinata? I can have them? You're a _goddess_!" he enthused, pulling the box toward him as if he was afraid she would change her mind.

Quietly, Hinata giggled. "Well, I do feel a bit bad for smacking you in the hand," she explained meekly, a light blush starting to color her cheeks. Grinning ear-to-ear, Naruto leapt from his seat and wrapped his arms around her slender shoulders.

"Thanks, Hinata! You're amazing," he told her, his eyes sparkling slightly creepily. As Hinata tried to stutter out a reply, he bounded back to his seat and promptly began to devour one of the extras.

His feasting was interrupted when a balled-up napkin struck him in the forehead and bounced off to fall in his lap. "You should really get some manners," Shikamaru drawled affectionately. "Besides, there's no need for the histrionics. It's just a couple of scones."

"Yeah, but they're _really good_ scones," Naruto retorted childishly, his mouth quite full. Wiping her mouth, Tenten looked over at Neji exasperatedly, hoping he wasn't about to murder Naruto for hugging his cousin so familiarly. Although he didn't look homicidal, there was a crumb of scone hanging on to his lower lip that he didn't seem to notice.

Although she had no idea why, she lifted her napkin to his lips and gently wiped his mouth, somehow holding his gaze as she did so. When she brought the napkin down, it was like some sort of spell that had been cast over her shattered, and she suddenly became hyper-aware of the uncanny silence of the table, and the face that Neji was gazing at her curiously, and the clammy feeling in the hand that wasn't holding the napkin. "You had a crumb on your lip," she explained, trying to keep her voice as casual as possible.

"Ah," Neji replied, raising his eyebrows ever so slightly at her. Suddenly, she wanted to disappear under the table. However, she raised her chin and tried to concentrate on pretending she was paying attention to Shikamaru and Naruto as they discussed a new song that they wanted to play. Still, she could literally feel Neji's level gaze causing the hairs on the back of her neck to prickle uncomfortably. As she found herself with the need to do something with her hands, Tenten began to meticulously smooth the wrinkles in her cloth napkin as Temari looked on, amused.

Sighing, Tenten wished she hadn't acted so thoughtlessly. She'd gone and made things awkward, and as much as she wanted to apologize to him, she knew she couldn't do so. And even as she thought, she could swear Neji was watching her with those gorgeous pale eyes of his. What if he hated her now, she wondered, restraining the urge to slump in her chair. More probably, he'd just think that she was a freak, and that wasn't quite something she wanted either.

Even if he reciprocated her small, silly crush, what good would it be, Tenten thought. He wouldn't be very happy with her once she'd shut the bar down. Besides, what man would want a female police officer? Shaking her head, Tenten tried to rid herself of that though. She was a half-step away from seriously wallowing in self-pity, she admonished herself decisively.

Not that she quite needed to worry. Half of a moment later, something came into Ichiraku's that could chase away any case of self-pity or worry.

"Tenten! Myself and Chief Gai have decided to come over and observe you while you work on your new project!" announced a rather loud, boisterous voice.

Yes, _them._

Now filled with the urge to slither under the floorboards, Tenten managed a sad sort of half-wave at her comrade and the chief of police for the small town. If she didn't respond to their idiocy, she knew, they would only pester her more. Still, she couldn't help but shrink away in chagrin as nearly the entire population of the bar stared first at Gai and Lee, and then at her. Really, it wasn't her fault she was stuck with _those two._

Having bounded up to the small table, Gai grinned luminously and clapped her on the shoulder. "I have decided to watch as the beautiful flower of our police department opens up in the spring of her youth!" he told her, tears starting to well up in his eyes.

Tenten could now nearly feel the shock radiating off of the table's rightful occupants. If she weren't so mortified, perhaps it could have been amusing.

Accepting defeat, she stood up and faced the table. "Well, this is my fellow police officer, Lee," she said, gesturing to the happy male on her left side as he beamed at the five people seated in front of him, "and this is our chief, Gai." His response was to give them the thumbs-up accompanied by a smile so bright one could literally hear the glint of sunlight off of his teeth. "Gai, Lee, meet Neji, Hinata, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Temari," she said, pointing as she named each of the table's occupants, who either smiled slightly or waved feebly. Tenten couldn't blame them. Gai and Lee tended to have that effect on people.

"I hope you all have been taking good care of her," Gai said as he settled his large frame into one of the empty chairs. "I'd been worried that she was squandering the wonderful years of her springtime of youth! It used to be that she stayed at the station until they had to force her out," he told them, booming with laughter.

Feeling her face turn red, Tenten huffed. "Chief Gai! You really don't need to tell them that!" she whined, feeling more than a little embarrassed. At this, Temari smirked evilly at her, and Tenten fought valiantly to resist the urge to stick her tongue out at the blonde woman.

"Nonsense, Tenten," the man countered, waving his hand airily. "If they're really your friends, there's nothing to hide from them.

Taking that to mean Gai and Lee would soon tell everyone present about every embarrassing moment of her life, Tenten blanched. "Anyway, we should get going. Us three all need to wake up really early tomorrow morning, so we should be getting some sleep. Right, Lee?" she asked pointedly, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh, but Tenten, Naruto was just telling me that he knows Miss Sakura! Isn't that an interesting coincidence?" Lee asked, somehow managing to look so childishly innocent that Tenten couldn't be too angry with him.

She brought her hand up to rub her temple. "Yes, Lee, that's great, but I have to be up at _four-thirty_ in the morning, and I'm pretty sure you won't be able to sleep in much longer. So come on, let's go already," Tenten said sternly.

Lee only fixed her with a smile and his best attempt at puppy-dog eyes. His effort was met by a stolid glare. "I am very sorry, Naruto, but I really must be going. Give Miss Sakura my regards if you see her or write to her anytime in the near future. It was nice meeting all of you," he said, now addressing the entire table.

"Sure thing, bushy-brows," Naruto laughed, clearly pleased with his wit. "I'll tell her that you said hi. She should be happy to know that, anyway. After all, she's mentioned you once or twice before. Although she's never mentioned quite how big your eyebrows are," he added in a very conspicuous undertone.

Shaking her head, Tenten gave Gai a light shove in the direction of the door. "There's no need to push me, Tenten!" the man laughed. "We're on our way. It was nice to meet all of you. I hope we continue to meet on good terms!"

Sincerely, Tenten hoped that no one would take that as a threat. Although, she thought as she watched the two of them leave, not many people would take anything Gai said, no matter how seriously, as a threat. It was their mistake, really. "Well, I have to go, too. And I'm really sorry about them. They're nice guys, and I love them both, they're just," she sighed, "they're just really exuberant. I should have warned you."

A few chuckles were heard from around the table. "Don't worry about it, Tenten," Shikamaru advised. "People make mistakes. People _are _mistakes. It's what makes them people, after all."

Smiling, Tenten waved once more and started on her way home.

. . .

1920s slang dictionary!

1) Pretty woman

2) To be honest


	6. Dangerous Love

**AN:** I apologize; I just recently realized I'd had this story marked as 'Complete.' I fixed that. =) It's not done yet, I promise! There are still a few more chapters.

_**Strawberry Daiquiri**_

_Chapter Six; Dangerous Love_

"Hey," came a cool voice to her left. Unbidden, a smile blossomed across her lips, and the heat on her cheeks told her she was probably blushing. It was such a silly, schoolgirlish thing to do. To blush just from hearing his voice. Still, she couldn't care less at the moment.

"Hey yourself," she replied softly. Turning her torso, she faced Neji and rested her elbow on the top of the table. "Nice of you to finally show up."

Neji sighed quietly and gave a little smile. "Things were busy at the firm today. Besides, I'm not the one who goes to work at 4:30 in the morning and than stays until all hours of the night. If your partner and your chief of police and are to be believed, that is," he challenged, his smile now twisted into more of a smirk.

She raised one eyebrow. "I woke up at 4:30. I went to work at 5. If you're going to accuse me of something, at least get your facts right. Geeze. What did they even teach you in this law school of yours?" Tenten joked.

Drumming his fingers against the tabletop, Neji pretended to seriously consider her question. "That it's completely irrational to wake up at 4:30 to go to work," he supplied. "Anyway, they do teach us to accuse or defend without correct facts sometimes. How many on-the-level (1) lawyers do you know?" With this question, his eyebrows raised until they were in danger of disappearing into his hairline.

"Including you?" Tenten asked, her face innocent. "I'd say one. Not including you? Still one," she teased, sticking her tongue out in a decidedly childish manner.

Rolling his eyes ever so slightly, Neji propped his hand on his knee. "You haven't even heard me at work. Wouldn't you consider that to be a bit of an unfair conclusion you've jumped to?" her bantered back.

One of the corners of her mouth raised, a mockery of his trademark smirk. "Well, you know what? All's fair in love and war. And police work and law, too. So don't cry, Mister Hyuuga. It's unprofessional," Tenten snickered. Still, when he leveled a glare at her, she raised her hands in surrender. "I was joking. I would think with Temari here around, you'd learn to loosen up a little bit."

"Both she and Shikamaru are too relaxed about everything," Neji sighed, running a hand through his hair. Luckily, both were too drawn into their own conversation to realize Neji was speaking about them. "Someone needs to be more responsible."

Tenten smiled. "Well, that's funny. After all, you're one of the ones who taught me how to enjoy life a little more." Neji didn't quite have a response to that, so he took a small sip from his water and scanned the bar. At the same time, he and Tenten noticed a young woman being pulled rather roughly through the back door by a man perhaps a year or so older.

As her forehead wrinkled in concern, Tenten stood up. "I'll be right back," she announced to the table. Neji frowned in response, but he didn't make a move to go after her; he knew she would take offense to the action.

"Tenten," Hinata muttered quietly, her tone worried. If Tenten heard, she gave no indication of it. Instead, she strode purposefully towards the door that the two had exited from. Cautiously, she pushed the door open and slipped into the dark and musty-smelling alley. A cacophony of shouts besieged her ears, all coming from the man.

"You filthy whore!" he all but screamed, his anger only making the slur in his voice more noticeable. "You thought you could come here to be with him? That I wouldn't notice you sneaking out and coming here? I saw you with him! You're no better than any other woman! Just another dirty, unfaithful, good-for-nothing bitch!" His left hand snared in her hair, and her broken sobs cut through the silence.

"No, it wasn't that!" she half-sobbed, half-screamed. "He's just one of my old friends, I haven't seen him in forever, and I just wanted–"

The back of his hand made contact with her face, the sound reverberating through the darkness like a shot. "You have no right to talk back to me like that!" he yelled harshly as her sobs abruptly stopped.

Gritting her teeth, Tenten stepped forward. "She has every right to explain," she cut in, her tone like ice. The man whirled around sloppily, letting go of the woman's hair in the process. For a moment, the woman stared at the ground, flummoxed. After a short moment, though, she stumbled to her feet clumsily and fled. The man didn't even notice her go.

"Who the hell are you and why are you in my business?"the man asked, an ugly snarl across his face and his dark hair falling into his face.

Placing her hands on her hips, Tenten silently chastised herself for leaving her gun in the car. Every police officer knew better than to make an arrest without a weapon. All she could do now was hope he'd come at least somewhat quietly. "You're under arrest," she announced quietly but firmly.

"Stop screwing around! Women can't be police officers! Shut up and get out of my business!" he roared, clearly intoxicated enough that he had lost all common sense.

"Sir, if you continue, I'm going to have to add charges for resisting arrest," Tenten gritted out as calmly as she could.

The man chuckled wildly and swayed slightly. His mouth opened, but instead of saying something, he began to charge forward. In a moment, Tenten realized that he was going too fast. He was almost faster than Lee. There was no time for her to evade completely; all she'd be able to do would be step to the side and take the hit as best as she could. 'I'll never leave my gun in the car again,' she thought as she brought her arms up to guard her face and slid slightly to the side. All of her muscles tightened as she braced for the impact.

However, the second before he hit, she felt a warm body at her back, and an arm reached around her. Someone's hand quickly gripped the assailant's wrist, and the drunken man was flung almost haphazardly into a wall.

As Tenten brought her arms down, Neji straightened up behind her. "Nice arms for a lawyer," she said breathlessly.

"Thanks," he murmured, chuckling quietly. "Are you all right?" he asked quietly.

Tenten couldn't help frowning just a little. Now that the adrenaline had worn off a little, she couldn't help but feel a little annoyed that Neji had interfered. "I'm fine. I would have been fine even if you hadn't felt like being the hero. I can take a hit, Neji," she told him. It was a bit unfair, maybe, but she certainly didn't want him to think she was incapable of doing her job.

"I didn't want you to," he responded. "It's not a matter of me thinking you're not capable. After all, I know you're capable. I suppose I was being selfish."

Before she could respond, he took her chin in one of his hands and brought her eyes up to meet his. For a few moments they sat like that, just staring at each other. Neither could drag their eyes away from the other. Time might have frozen; if it didn't, it certainly felt like that for both Neji and Tenten.

Eventually, though, Neji broke eye contact. "You should lock that guy up before he wakes up," he muttered, turning away from Tenten and towards the bar as she blinked several times, nonplused.

"Yeah..." she replied slightly unsteadily. "Yeah," she repeated, her voice gaining strength as her mind cleared a little bit. "I suppose I'll see you tomorrow, then," Tenten said as she made her way toward the unconscious man.

Although Tenten couldn't see Neji's small smile, she could hear the warmth in his tone as he said, "I'll be waiting." He opened the door and spoke over his shoulder. "I'll tell them what happened and that we're alright."

With that, he was gone, and Tenten bent over to snap the handcuffs on the man slumped on the ground. She knew that the young woman he'd been assaulted would be needed later, when he was in court, but that was a problem she'd have to worry about later. Right now, she was more concerned with how she'd be getting the man to her car.

Eventually, she settled with grabbing him under the armpits and dragging him to the car. In the back of her mind, she pondered going back into the bar and asking Neji for assistance, but she quelled that thought a moment after it arose. If she didn't want him to think she was incompetent, Tenten would have to do this by herself, she knew. Besides, she wasn't sure she could handle it if their eyes met like that a second time.

Her arms aching, she finally reached her squad car, the man still in tow. Tenten knew she was lucky that he wasn't overweight. Even as it was, the trip to her vehicle had been a long haul–literally.

After shoving the man into the bench in the back, Tenten propped him up against the door and buckled his seatbelt around him. Frankly, it was more that she wanted to do for the safety of a misogynistic and abusive man, but she knew it was against the law to do otherwise. And she really didn't want to have to sit through another of Gai's speeches.

She maneuvered the empty streets with ease, enjoying the relative quiet of the night. With one passenger already unconscious in the back of her car, a loud and hectic night would be the death of her.

A short drive later, Tenten pulled smoothly into the police station. Spotting Lee just exiting the building, she heaved a sigh of relief. "Hey, Lee!" she called out once she'd stopped the car. "Give me a hand over here, please!"

Lee hurried over, smiling brightly. "Hello, Tenten! What do you need help with?" he inquired courteously as she clambered out of the vehicle.

"Could you carry this guy in for me? I had to drag him all the way to my squad car, and I don't think the bottoms of his trousers can take any more abuse at this rate," she joked, smiling wryly as she opened the back door and unbuckled the man.

Without a word, Lee moved over and gathered the man into his arms smoothly, lifting him as if he weighed nothing. Tenten huffed in annoyance. "Why is this so easy for you? That's definitely not fair," she complained.

Lee's bright grin practically illuminated everything within a hundred-foot radius. "If you would like to exercise with Chief Gai and me in the mornings, we would be most happy to have you join! I could even arrange for you to get one of our exercise jumpsuits–"

"No," Tenten cut him off abruptly. She'd seen the green monstrosities with her own eyes, and at that moment she swore she'd never be caught dead in them. Not to mention morning exercise with Gai and Lee sounded absolutely _suicidal_. They liked to run laps. Laps in the plural. Around the entire town. No, she didn't want to be part of that little party. "So, Lee, pretty uneventful day?"she asked him as she opened the door for him.

He smiled his thanks and went in. "It was fairly quiet. I personally did not make any arrests. I take it that trouble found you?" Lee asked, nodding his head towards the still-unconscious man in his arms.

Tenten grimaced. "Yeah, he was dragging some girl out of Ichiraku's while I was there. I followed, and he said some pretty nasty stuff and then smacked her," she said, frowning. "He seemed pretty ossified (2) to me."

Immediately, Lee's eyes went wide. "That is horrible. No man should ever lay a hand a woman. If a man is with a woman, he should protect her with his life. A man who hurts a woman deserves no one's sympathy," he said sadly.

"People shouldn't hurt other people. It's not a gender thing, Lee," Tenten replied sharply as Lee settled the man down in a cell. He'd wake up quite soon. "Anyway, the woman got away, and he's locked up and he'll get what he deserves. Then maybe he'll never hit another person, man or woman, again."

Somber, Lee nodded. "Let us hope for that, Tenten."

As they passed by the small office, a voice called out from within. "Tenten! I need to see you here for a moment!" Gai called out. Tenten sighed and rubbed her temples. Hopefully Gai wouldn't be too extensive with the inquiry; she wanted to go home and sleep.

"You should head home, Lee. See you bright and early tomorrow morning," she said ruefully, smiling as Lee headed off, waving and smiling brightly. Turning away from him, she face the office door and slowly pushed it open. "Chief, can the report wait until tomorrow? I'm really exhausted," she explained, hating how whiney she sounded.

Gai looked up from a stack of paperwork, his glasses falling down his rather large nose. "Of course they can, but I was hoping to speak with you about how your youthful investigation of Ichiraku's has been going."

Frowning, she leaned against the wall. "Well, everything had been going smoothly, but then this man caused quite a problem for me today. He was intoxicated and hurting another person, and I have reason to believe the alcohol came from Ichiraku's," she told him, sighing at the end of her explanation.

"A little more than two weeks ago, you would have been ecstatic to report this to me, my dear flower. Why, then, is it that you seem so upset with the news now?" he asked keenly, his eyes narrowing slightly as he reasoned.

Tenten blanched. "Well, it's just that the restaurant had been doing so well up until then. Besides, I might just sound more upset that I really am because I'm just exhausted. Tiredness sounds like sadness sometimes, Chief," she explained quickly.

Chuckling, Gai pulled off his glasses and inspected her closer. "I don't mean to question your springtime of youth, Tenten!" he told her cheerily. "Still, it does make me wonder! What are your feelings for the esteemed young Mr. Hyuuga, anyway, flower?" he asked her, his innocent tone making her all the more embarrassed.

"We're friends, Chief Gai," she explained cooly, opting for professional formality. When Gai chuckled again, she blushed and realized her mistake–she was never professionally formal except when denying something. He knew as well as she did, and she knew she'd just proved his suspicions.

Putting his glasses back on his nose, Gai turned over a page and picked up his pen. "You can go home, Tenten. Just don't forget to enjoy your springtime of youth!" he urged her happily.

Shaking her head ruefully, Tenten made her way towards the door. "Of course, Chief," she promised insincerely before she slipped out of the door. Once outside of his office, she rested her head against the cool stone wall and sighed. "We're getting too close," she murmured. "We're getting close, and it scares me," Tenten whispered to the cool brick.

. . .

1920s slang dictionary!

1) Honest, truthful

2) Drunk


	7. How To?

_**AN: **_Wow, I'm lame. This whole story is finished, but I haven't updated in how long? Sorry. I just keep forgetting to put the chapters up weekly.

On another note, is anyone else having problems with the search function? Like when you try to search 'Recently Updated?' I'd like to know if it's just my computer.

_**Strawberry Daiquiri**_

_Chapter Seven; How To?_

Honestly, there must have been something about Neji that was literally intoxicating, Tenten thought as she lounged in her seat, her back against the smooth wood of the bar. They were getting too close, and she knew it. Yet she couldn't bring herself to stay away from him. It was like he was the candle flame and she was the stupid moth that couldn't help being drawn it. What was it about him that made it impossible for her to stay away?

The answer to that wasn't something she even wanted to think about, so Tenten closed her eyes with a sight and took a drink of her plain soda water. Upon opening her eyes, she noticed Neji looking at her. "What's up, Neji?" she asked, raising a single eyebrow and depositing her empty glass on the bar counter.

"Your hair looks nice today," he complemented warmly but quietly. "And you're not complaining about it getting in your way," he added, smirking infuriatingly.

With a huff, Tenten crossed her arms across her chest. "I did not complain that much the first time you saw it down," she defended herself, staring Neji down until his smirk transmuted into a small smile. Tilting her head to the side, she surveyed Neji's own hair. "Why do you keep your hair long? Hasn't anyone ever told you it looks feminine?" she teased. Truthfully, Tenten knew that she was lying if she insinuated he looked like a woman. In her opinion, Neji looked like a man, and a damn fine one at that. Not that she'd be admitting that anytime soon, though.

"A few people have told me it looks feminine, but usually I pay them no heed. It's a sort of a tradition, a thing the men in my family do. Almost all of us keep our hair long." He regarded her and raised his eyebrows a fraction. "Why do _you_ keep your hair long? Isn't it far more in vogue for women to have their hair short?" He had a point there; almost every woman in the bar had their hair cropped to chin-length or shorter.

"Me? As if. That's a very flapper-esque thing to do. And clearly I'm no flapper, seeing as I'm opposed to the sales of bootleg liquor," Tenten told him, making a vague gesture to the back of the bar, almost as if to remind him why she was here. "Anyway, to change your hair to follow what's in style hardly seems like a good idea. Trends change far too often to base your entire appearance on them," she commented, nodding sagely and unconsciously tugging on a strand of her own chestnut hair.

Neji nodded in reply. "Well, either way, I'm glad you keep it long," he told her. Quiet settled over them for a moment, at least until Neji called Ichiraku over for refills on his virgin strawberry daiquiri and her soda water.

As Tenten watched the bar owner pour Neji's brightly-hued drink, her memory was jogged. That was the drink that he had on the first day. It had been almost three weeks now, and she knew it was high time she made a decision. "Neji?" she began cautiously. He stopped the drink halfway up to his lips and eyed her questioningly. "You're a lawyer. You could help me out with the case on Ichiraku's. It has been almost three weeks, and you've stayed impartial for the entirety of that time. Don't you think you're overdue for making a decision?" She hoped she wasn't making a very bad decision of her own.

Not letting his eyes drop from hers, Neji put his drink down and sighed. "I don't know, Tenten. I'd do a lot for you. However, I'm not about to choose your side," he told her, a touch of remorse in his voice. He'd know that she would ask him sooner or later, but he had hoped maybe she wouldn't press him into a decision he didn't want to make. Clearly, he had no such luck.

She glowered at him and stood up huffily. "You know what? I'm not in the right mood to listen to your indecisive bullshit anymore. I'm going shopping. See you tomorrow, Neji," she snapped, grabbing her purse off of the table and turning on her heel to head out. Neji sunk back into his chair, suddenly tired.

On her way out, Tenten noticed Temari and Shikamaru standing close together, their foreheads almost touching as they spoke. Temari's hand was resting inside of both of Shikamaru's, and his hat was on the bar behind her. It wasn't nice to eavesdrop, Tenten knew. However, she couldn't bing herself to care, even in the slightest. It wasn't nice to let someone down when you had the power to help them, either. Didn't one wrong deed warrant another? Tenten took a step forward so she was close enough to hear.

"What do you want, Shikamaru?" Temari said, her voice quiet but rough. It was as if she'd been screaming or crying recently, maybe both. Her eyes were downcast, but Tenten could catch the ennui in them.

"I'm sorry, Temari," Shikamaru admitted, his own voice a bit raw. "I'm sick of making you upset and hurting you. Just hear me out. I think... well, this may be troublesome, but I think I'm ready. It took Tenten coming here for me to realize that I'm only human. And all humans, I think, just want to love and be loved in return. I'm sorry it took so long. I don't care what it takes; I'm ready for anything, as long as you're ready, too," he told her. There was more emotion in his voice than Tenten had ever heard there before. His back was turned to her, but she could imagine his facial expression: open and truthful, with maybe a hint of emotion lying in the back of his dark eyes.

Temari's face, though, Tenten could see. Her eyes were sparkling with what looked like a new onslaught of tears, and her throat appeared to clench. For a moment, the blonde was breathless. Then she opened her mouth, as if to speak.

Suddenly, Tenten felt sick and angry, angrier than she'd been in a long while. Her ire seemed to build in her gut, moving up until she could feel the acrid taste in the back of her throat. Everything was just _lovely_ for Temari, wasn't it? And here she herself couldn't catch a break with the man who she thought she'd loved, one who was supposed to be on her side.

Before Temari could manage to speak, Tenten stormed past them, her hair flying behind her as she made her way towards the entrance. She was ruining their moment, she knew. She couldn't care less. Temari grit her teeth and Shikamaru pulled away slightly, craning his neck to see Tenten stomp past them. He sighed and pulled one hand away from Temari's, running it through his hair. "Tenten, where are you going?" he asked tiredly.

Although she could hear him perfectly, Tenten deigned not to answer. He could ask Neji later, if he could pull away from Temari long enough, Tenten thought derisively. She blew past Kiba, ignoring the doorman's startled stare, and shoved her way through the beautiful double doors of Ichiraku's.

. . .

When Tenten finally pulled the car over, she was at a small clothing shop at the side of the road. She'd never been in the particular store, but it had received rave reviews from her friend, Ino Yamanaka. There was a big party at the station next month, and as the sole girl of the police force, she'd be expected to look her best.

As she slammed the door of her Model-T, she couldn't help but think it was ridiculous and chauvinistic. She was a respected member of the police, dammit, not some airheaded model. If she dressed up and played the pretty officer, she'd just feel like she was cheapening herself.

Still, she didn't have the heart to let Lee and Gai down. They were so excited about this party. Besides, it wouldn't hurt too badly. She could have a little bit of fun and maybe let loose a bit. Even the dressing up wouldn't be so wrong. After all, Tenten was getting sick of wearing the same uniform day after day. Looking down at said uniform, she grinned wryly to herself. It really wasn't the most glamorous outfit in the world.

"May I help you?" a thin saleswoman said, accosting Tenten the moment she pushed through the double doors. Ah, that was why she'd gone into these shops again. Too many annoying salespeople trying to convince her she looked good in everything. If Gai hadn't offered to reimburse her, she would have bought something inexpensive from a simple store, but he _had_ insisted she look her best. And Tenten simply couldn't turn down free anything, from food to clothing.

"I'd like to browse by myself, if that's all right," Tenten retorted to the hawkish woman, fighting to keep her voice as pleasant as possible. After her little fall-out with Neji, she hardly felt the need to get into another argument. The woman seemed slightly affronted, but Tenten simply brushed past her and began to survey the racks.

The store appeared to be a little older, but Tenten wouldn't have guessed that by the selection. The hemlines all stopped short only a little bit below the knee. There were few that went to the floor or even to the ankle, and those were quite ugly.

Temari wouldn't let her live this down, Tenten thought, amused, as she slid another knee-length dress off of the rack and put it on top of the other few in her arms. If the blonde woman saw her dressing up like a flapper, she'd tease her for the rest of their lives. After all, Tenten had always opposed to flappers and their ways.

As she pulled another dress off of the rack, the police officer smiled slightly. Maybe flappers weren't bad, after all. The bootleg liquor certainly wasn't something she agreed with. However, they were campaigning for equality between the sexes, and they weren't afraid to be strong women. Besides, she though grudgingly as she headed into one of the changing rooms, their fashions weren't half bad at all.

Not that Tenten was going to chop off all of her hair all of a sudden, though. There were certain lines that she wasn't willing to cross.

Groaning, Tenten placed the dresses on a hanger and exited the small room. She'd forgotten an underdress. Some of the dresses she'd pulled off of the rack were mere beading and lace, unfit to be worn unless there was a slip underneath them. Even the flappers weren't daring enough to be that immodest.

Tenten pulled on dress after dress, eying herself critically in the mirror. Some traitorous part of her mind couldn't help but wonder what Neji would think of each one. "No," she muttered to herself as she tried on a yellow number. The next one was a light blue, the color of Neji's shirt today, a color he wore often. 'Would he like the color on me?' she couldn't help but wonder.

Running her hand through her hair, Tenten groaned. "Dammit!" she exclaimed. It wasn't bad enough that she was drawn to him in real life. Now she couldn't get him out of her thoughts, and it was infuriating.

"Tenten?" came a familiar voice, and a manicured hands wrenched open the curtains of the dressing room.

The brunette in question dropped the blue gown and fought to close the curtains. "Ino!" she quasi shrieked. "God, I could be naked! Have some respect for people's privacy!" The blonde skipped into the dressing room before Tenten could close the curtains on her. "How did you even know it was me? You could've walked in on some stranger!"

Ino chuckled and looked at her friend. "You have a distinctive voice, especially when you're cursing. That's one hell of an ugly dress."

"I know," Tenten snapped waspishly.

A small laugh escaped Ino's throat, and she went rummaging through the pile of clothes Tenten hadn't yet tried on. Adroitly, she snatched up a saturated red dress and tossed it at Tenten. "Try that on. I'm sure it'll look good on you," Ino demanded, leaning against a wall and drumming her fingers against her thigh. "What were you cursing about, anyway? I don't think the dress was quite that ugly," she said, giving the gown a second look.

After waiting for a moment, Tenten realized Ino wasn't about to move anytime soon. "Would you mind giving me some privacy so I can change?" she asked, her voice strained with the effort to maintain her composure.

"Yes, I would mind," Ino replied breezily. "It's not like I've never seen female body parts before. I model, remember? And anyway, don't avoid the question. It's rude."

"It's more rude to invade on someone's privacy," Tenten retorted. However, she began to change, choosing a white slip and pulling on the red dress over it. "There's a man."

"Oh, I see," Ino said cannily, her eyes twinkling in delight. "Is he handsome? Or, oh, God forbid. Please don't tell me that you're so desperate that you've decided to go after Lee?" she half-gasped, leaning forward to catch every piece of information.

As she tried to adjust her dress, Tenten shot a glower at Ino. "Ino, it wouldn't kill you to look beyond appearances. Lee is a perfectly nice guy–"

"So it _is _Lee?" Ino demanded, hardly able to contain her maniacal glee. "You love–"

"No!" Tenten cried out, whirling to face Ino as the fringe on the bottom half of her dress swirled about her legs. "It is not Lee! I was just saying he's nice. I love Lee like I'd love a younger brother. Besides, he's still hung up on that Sakura woman. No, the man I'm interested in is called Neji Hy–"

"Neji _Hyuuga_!" Ino all but screeched. "I would kill to have him! He's almost as handsome as Sasuke Uchiha! Oh, you lucky bitch, I hate you! Does he like you back?" Ino pried, her electric blue eyes wide.

Tenten groaned and put her head in her hands. "You can have him. He's being horrible. I don't even know if he likes me, although a few days ago I would have told you 'yes' in a heartbeat," she sighed, pulling her head out of her hands to smooth the dress out.

Suddenly Ino was all sweetness and concern, the hint of insanity gone from her eyes. "Aww, honey, what happened between the two of you?" she asked softly, resting a slender hand on one of Tenten's bared shoulders.

"Well, in short, he won't come over to my side. He has the ability to help me with something, and he's not willing to commit. It's making me wonder if he really cares, or if he's just stringing me along for fun," Tenten sighed.

In response, Ino scoffed. "You know what I think? I think you have always been a strong, beautiful woman. And you've always been proud of that. If that's your strong point, why don't you show it? Play to your strengths, Tenten. And get that dress. It looks amazing on you," Ino advised, and she was gone the next moment, the bells on the store's door twinkling as she left.

After Tenten straightened up the dressing room and paid for the red dress, she walked out of the store, her mind buzzing. Seduction had always seemed like an interesting and fascinating idea.

Neji Hyuuga, she decided, wouldn't know what hit him.


	8. On Behalf of the Law

_**Strawberry Daiquiri**_

_Chapter Eight; On Behalf of the Law_

Temari snuck a sideways glance toward Shikamaru, who was listlessly playing with his fedora. As if she was about to ask him a question, she opened her mouth. Before she could force the words out, though, Hinata's gentle hands grazed her shoulder. "Yeah, Hinata?" Temari sighed, Tearing her eyes from Shikamaru's.

"Um, I wanted to know if you would accompany me to the restroom," the shy woman nearly pleaded, her gaze fixed on the table. Temari met Tenten's eyes from across the table, then she shrugged and sighed again, pushing her chair away from the table. Shikamaru looked up, daring to meet her eyes, but Temari just looked away.

"Yeah. Come on, Hinata." With a swish of her plum dress, she strode toward the bathroom, Hinata scurrying after. "So, what's the matter?" Temari questioned as soon as they were out of earshot.

"I just don't know what to do!" Hinata cried. "What to say, or how to say it–I'm no good at this! Temari," Hinata said with some conviction as she pushed open the restroom doors and settled in a small chair, "I wish I could actually make him see me as a girl." She groaned quietly and sunk down in the chair.

The blonde stopped messing with her hair and glanced at her harried friend through the mirror. "He does see you as a girl, though. That's why he keeps trying to talk to you. You're just not making it clear enough that you're interested, Hinata."

"What?" she squeaked. "I was sure I was flirting!"

Temari didn't even try to smother her laughter. "And in your household, I'm sure that is flirting. Both you and Neji are very subtle, so I figure that's how it works in your family." Tucking an errant strand of hair behind her ear, she continued on. "Naruto, though... well, Naruto's clueless and a bit of an idiot sometimes. Sure, he's a sweet guy and all that, but he's not much in the common sense department. So you're going to have to be more obvious. Guys like Naruto don't pick up on subtle hints. Really, if your want him to notice you like him, just drag him out back and rape him. Works like a charm."

"Temari!" Hinata gaped, aghast.

"Calm down, sweetheart. I'm joking, of course. It's not rape if both parties enjoy it." Sweet little Hinata surprised Temari by shooting her a withering stare. "Fine, fine. Don't rape the boy. If you can handle it, touch him more often. Like on the arm or something. Maybe compliment ham. And stop brushing him off when he compliments you. I'll see if I can't get Shikamaru to tell him some things, too. Maybe have him suggest a double-date or something. He's crafty when he's not being a lazy ass."

Hiding a smile behind her hand, Hinata stood up. "Thank you, Temari. I'll try harder, honestly," she promised.

"Just try to be yourself, but a less subtle, more sexy version of yourself. Maybe I'll lend you a dress that's slightly less frumpy."

Hinata pouted. "My dresses are not frumpy. But... I'd appreciate that very much. As long as Neji isn't around. He'd have an apoplexy."

"He'd really have an apoplexy if we dressed Tenten up really sexy," Temari chortled. "He'd practically die of... well. Too little blood to the brain, I think. It'd be rushing somewhere a little bit different."

Although Hinata was giggling, she smacked Temari on the arm lightly. "Ew! That's my cousin you're talking about," she said indignantly, pushing the bathroom door open.

"Geeze, you two took forever," Naruto whined as soon as they were back at the table. "Hinata, it's boring without you around to talk to," he pouted.

"W-well, I'm back now, Naruto. I'm sorry we took so long. I figured you and Shikamaru would go back up to play again."

Shikamaru and Temari exchanged glances, the former's curious and the latter's resigned. She knew Shikamaru wanted to finish the previous day's conversation, but she couldn't bring herself to abandon Hinata. Sighing, she slowly shook her head.

Tenten, who had caught the exchange, bit her lip slightly. It was her fault, even if neither Shikamaru nor Temari would mention it. She'd been insensitive, and even if Neji had been a jerk, it didn't make her actions any more excusable. Yet, as Temari and Shikamaru sank into light banter and Hinata giggled at Naruto's God-awful jokes, Tenten relaxed slightly. Maybe, just maybe, if she stopped nosing into others' business, things could resolve themselves.

"Hey, Neji," she uttered softly. He drew his gaze away from Naruto and Hinata to glance questioningly at Tenten. "Do you think you could give me a ride home tonight? I got in a bit of trouble on an arrest this morning and my car needs some fixing."

Narrowing his eyes, Neji scrutinized Tenten, searching for some sign of injury. She laughed self-consciously, waving him off carelessly. "My car got hurt, not me. I'm fine. What, are you concerned for my safety, Neji? I had no idea you were such a nice guy," she jibed, chuckling quietly. Neji just raised his perfect eyebrows.

"If you would prefer to walk home, that can be arranged as well," he shot back, smirking as Tenten raised both hands in surrender and sunk down sullenly in her chair, pouting.

. . .

"Neji, I'm awfully sorry for acting like such a fool yesterday. My day hadn't been going too well, and I was willing to take it out on practically anyone," Tenten explained.

He looked away from the road he was driving on to stare at her. "And yet you 'got in a bit of trouble' today, and you're in a much better mood. How does that make any sense, Tenten?" She opened her mouth to defend herself, but Neji shushed her. "I was joking, Tenten. I understand. My job... well, it has its days, as well," he told her just as they pulled into the driveway in front of her tiny house.

"I'm not used to you knowing how to joke," she grumbled. Neji parked, but he kept the car on, and Tenten gnawed on her lip. She couldn't go now; she had a job to do. "I still feel like I was especially awful to Temari and Shikamaru. They were having some kind of a–a moment, and I totally ruined the mood. Now it's like they can't get away to resolve it, and I feel like such a jerk."

"Don't," Neji advised. "Temari's stubborn. She'll chase something to the ends of the earth and back if she really wants it. And as lazy and nonchalant as Shikamaru is, he cares for Temari. I've never seen him care so much for anything–anyone–before. It's almost disconcerting. I think they'll be able to resolve it themselves. As long as Hinata leaves Temari for long enough, that is."

"You noticed that?" Tenten queried, honestly surprised.

"I may be male," Neji replied dryly, but I am neither as oblivious as Naruto nor as unconcerned as Shikamaru."

Feeling properly chastised, Tenten looked at her lap. "Oh," she said quietly, but within moments her eyes were alert, linked with his. "Well, then, if you already know about Hinata and Naruto, what do you think? Would you be okay with them being in a relationship?" Tenten wondered, hoping she wasn't prying.

"My uncle used to intricate himself into my life too much, and I'm resentful because of it. I wouldn't want to harm my relationship with Hinata because I made similar mistakes. So I won't poke into her love life. Unless Naruto is enough of a fool to hurt her," he finished, an eerie light in his eyes. A chill ran down Tenten's spine, and she feared for Naruto's well-being.

"Speaking of Hinata, and I hope you don't mind me asking, why do you two have eyes so similar in color?"

Neji sighed. "I don't mind your curiosity, but they're really not anything extraordinary. It's just something hereditary, passed on through our family. There are no real ill-effects. Actually, there was never a Hyuuga who had anything less than perfect vision. However, we look blind. Most people find our eyes ugly or even unnatur–"

"I may not be most people, but I happen to think your eyes are amazing," Tenten interrupted decisively. For a moment, neither said anything; they just stared at each other, an almost palpable tension fizzing between them.

"Neji," Tenten whispered, daring to break the moment. "What happened? That other evening, behind the bar. What happened?" she asked.

Shaking his head, Neji gazed at her, stymied. "I have no idea," he admitted. "But I like it. I like the way our eyes meet," he said quietly, surely. Neither said anything more, but they were drawn inexplicably closer and closer until their lips finally met. "Tenten, I–" Neji began, pulling away a millisecond later.

"Sh-shhh," Tenten hushed softly, moving forward to kiss him softly again. If it was thrilling when their eyes met, pure electricity surged through her veins when their lips came together. Neji hesitated for a moment, but slowly he began to kiss her back, gently, as if he might break her.

Tenten felt her heart pounding hard against her chest. Softly, she brought her hand to Neji's chest, laying it flat against his shirt as she continued to kiss him gently. His heart, she was pleased to find, seemed to be beating with the same intensity. Unbidden, her other hand tangled itself in his soft hair, pulling it loose from the tie he kept it in.

Slowly, he opened his mouth wider, and her lips followed his, pressing more firmly and with more intensity now. Neji's hand pressed against the side of her face, and he used his thumb to gently force her chin up. Heat seemed to flare up in the pit of Tenten's stomach, spreading to her fingertips and her toes. Pulling slightly away, she sucked on Neji's bottom lip for a moment, rewarded when his heart raced under the palm of her hand.

The next moment, he had pulled her hair loose from its pins to fall haphazardly over her shoulders; the sweet but fresh scent of her shampoo filled his nose, and he pressed his lips back to hers with slightly more force, the tip of his tongue playing along her bottom lip. When she had opened her mouth more, he pushed his tongue into her mouth, pressing it against her own tongue gently.

Neji was surprised when Tenten maneuvered herself slowly, never breaking the kiss, until she was over him, basically on his lap, her hands now both lost in his hair. Sliding his hands down slowly, he finally let them rest on her waist.

Without so much as a warning, Tenten pulled away, leaving Neji slightly breathless and flushed. Her face, too, was red, and she was panting slightly, her lips parted slightly and darker now, so inviting that Neji wanted to recapture them. "Neji," she whispered hoarsely, and Neji felt his stomach curl into itself with desire. She dipped her head down and pressed light, soft kisses on his throat, going up until she reached his earlobe, which she drew between her teeth. His breath caught in his throat, and his hands moved down to grip her hips.

"Neji, we," she paused, pressing a kiss to the shell of his ear, "get along pretty well." Her lips pressed gently, teasingly against the corner of his mouth. "Don't you agree?" In reply, Neji inclined his head and captured her lips again, their mouths moving with much more intensity this time. Her tongue slipped into his mouth and gently explored, running along the roof of his mouth. Before he could respond, she pulled away, panting slightly harder this time.

His right hand came up to gently touch the side of her face, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "I think..." Tenten began, and she paused and looked to the side, biting her bottom lip. "I think you should be able to side with me." Before Neji had a chance to even comprehend her statement, she leaned down, her lips melding with his and her body now pressed flush against his. She kissed him passionately for a few moments, their tongues daring to explore each other's mouths as their hearts raced in unison.

Once more, it was Tenten who broke the kiss, and she turned her head down to softly suck on a spot on Neji's neck. Pulling away, she looked at him, her head tilted to the side. "Please, Neji?" she asked softly, her voice hoarse but sure. It didn't matter what she wanted. If she asked for it in that voice, while looking at him like that...Neji would give her anything.

"I will put in a word on your behalf and try to shut the bar down," he promised, trying to keep his voice under control.

He was rewarded by a bright grin and her arms around his shoulders, pulling him in close for a tight hug. She released him and kissed him on the lips quickly. "You won't regret it, Neji, I promise," she said, smiling. "Now. Back to more important matters." Neji looked up, curious; Tenten just smiled and kissed him deeply.

_**AN: **_Ohmigosh, right? That's definitely the first time I've actually written a make-out scene. Hope it's not too terrible! =)

Speaking of terrible (hah), there are a few more chapters (this one included) left. Wow, right? If I actually put these up on time, the last one will be in two weeks. Don't count on my sense of timeliness, though. XD


	9. Creating

_**AN: **_Shorter even than the last one. XD These seem to be steadily shrinking. Can you believe the next one is the final chapter? It's crazy!

There's a mild time-skip between the end of the last chapter and the beginning of this. It's not long, just a week or so. You should be able to figure out what's going on. =)

_**Strawberry Daiquiri**_

_Chapter Nine; Creating_

Neji listlessly threw his coat over the back of a chair, sighing. Work hadn't changed at all, yet it was more tiring than before, probably due to the fact that he could no longer go to Ichiraku's and relax after a hard day. Maybe due to the fact that he couldn't see_ her_ and have his day suddenly take a turn for the better.

That was a lie, though, he realized. He could go see her anytime. He knew where she worked, even where she lived. It would take no effort at all to get in his car and go see her. Yet he couldn't. Couldn't even bring himself to explain to her why everything was wrong. Didn't even have the nerve to try.

Groaning, Neji ran a hand through his hair.

"Oh! Is that you, Neji?" Hinata inquired softly, peeking out of the kitchen. "I made some tea. Perhaps you would like to sit down and drink it with me?" she asked softly, yieldingly. He couldn't bring himself to say no, no matter what he wanted.

"Thank you very much, Miss Hinata," Neji intoned, his voice bland. "I would really appreciate a mug of tea right now," he conceded as he sat down at the dining table.

Smiling beatifically, Hinata entered the dining room, one tea mug in each of her hands. Gently, she placed one down in front of Neji and sat down across from him. Several moments passed in silence. Neji stared at the table; Hinata watched Neji. "Ah, Neji?" she asked gently. He lifted his head and observed her curiously. "I was... wondering if you were f-feeling well. I have noticed it. Hanabi has noticed it. Uncle has even noticed it. You seem gloomy all the time. And, uhm, well, you've started calling me Miss Hinata again."

His eyes widened almost imperceptibly in surprise. It could hardly be important, could it? What he called Hinata was of little consequence, or so he thought. However, unless his ears weren't functioning properly, she sounded just the slightest bit hurt.

"Oh, uhm, it's really not that important," Hinata hastily stated, correctly reading Neji's expression. "It's only that when you called me Hinata, just Hinata, it seemed like I was less of an o-obligation, like I was a f-friend instead." She bit her lip. "B-but that's not important! I'm digressing. What you call me doesn't matter, Neji. However, what you are feeling does matter," she spoke with gentle conviction.

For a moment longer, Neji was silent, letting his thoughts, his feelings flood his mind. To bring himself under control, he took a drink from his steaming tea, and then he placed the mug back on the table and met Hinata's eyes. "Why? Why are you being kind to me, when it is partially my fault that they've closed Ichiraku's?"

Hinata looked at him, her head tilted to the side and a small smile on her lips. "Am I supposed to hate you for it? For being human? That would be f-foolish and hypocritical of me, wouldn't it? Please, Neji, I'm not mad at you. I am concerned for you, though. That's why I would like you to be honest with me. Please, tell me what's wrong?" she appealed.

Sighing, Neji glanced at his tea mug. "I feel like an idiot. I would have done anything for her. I would've given her anything. And she was wise enough to take advantage of that. And I was too much of a fool to stop her from doing something that we'd all regret. Then you stand here and tell me that it's all right, that it's not my fault. But it is. It's my fault."

"No, Neji. It's not your fault. People are stupid for those whom they love. They are willing to do anything for them. If Naruto had asked me to shut down Ichiraku's, I would have, and that would be much harder to accomplish for me than it was for you. Love makes fools of us all."

His eyes wouldn't meet hers, but Neji said, "I'm not in love with her, Hinata. I made a mistake."

Serenely, Hinata sipped from her tea. "If you were not in love with Tenten, Neji, you wouldn't have said that with such regret." Neji's eyes snapped up to meet hers. "I-I think right now you're ashamed of yourself, and you feel kind of... alone. You've made a mistake, and you know that. What you don't want to admit is th-that your mistake lies not in loving Tenten, but in how you are handling the situation, and in what you did about Ichiraku's. I think you can fix both, Neji. I have faith in you," Hinata expressed, the corners of her lips turned upwards in a small smile.

It took Neji a few moments to really think through everything that Hinata had told him. "I feel like she probably hates me right now, though," he grumbled.

Hinata giggled quietly. "Judging from the way you two acted whenever you were together, it would take more than a few days of idiocy to make her hate you, Neji," she said. "Her feelings may be a bit sore. And she probably knows that she has done wrong, also. However, that doesn't mean that she doesn't want to see you. Actually, I think that means she needs to see you."

"I hope you're not expecting me to rush off right now in a fit of passion," Neji said dryly, his eyebrows raised.

"Oh, Neji, I have know you since we were both little, and I believe Shikamaru is more likely to run off in a fit of passion than you are," Hinata admitted around a bout of the giggles. Her shoulders shook and she put her hand over her mouth in a semblance of manners.

Neji's eyebrows raised a fraction of an inch. "I think Shikamaru would do that, only it wouldn't be out of passion. More like a result of Temari having him in her iron fist."

As she stood, Hinata laughed quietly. "Maybe that's true. Thank you for talking openly to me, Neji. I need to leave, soon, though. I have a date with Naruto," she said, grinning brightly and slightly flushed.

"No, Hinata, thank you. I almost made a few more mistakes. Tenten will have you to thank that I'm not such a fool as I would've been."

"Well, I have Tenten and Temari to thank that I'm not such a coward as I used to be, so I suppose we're all even now," Hinata admitted. There was a knock on the door, and Hinata swept past Neji. "He's actually early for once," she said, amused. "I'm off, Neji. Goodbye!"

. . .

"Even the food here isn't as good as Ichiraku's," Temari grumbled. "It's not horrible, but it's not good either," she huffed.

Shikamaru put down his fork and rolled his eyes. "Troublesome woman, I can't even take you out for dinner without you complaining?" he asked her. She was right, of course; he didn't think the food was great, either.

"Well, why do you take me out for dinner if I'm so annoying, then?" she snapped back, pushing her blonde hair behind her ear.

Smirking, Shikamaru leaned forward and kissed her across the table. "Because I love you, troublesome woman," he admitted.

Temari was blushing heavily, but she managed to keep her expression haughty. "Well, I suppose that's a good enough reason," she admitted. "Still, I'm surprised you're taking this so well. Ichiraku's was closed, and you didn't even bat an eyelash."

"I have a plan, Temari," Shikamaru admitted. "I'm fairly sure it will work, also. I've known Neji long enough to have his measure."

"Your check, sir," the waiter said, placing a piece of paper on the middle of the table. Shikamaru glanced at it and placed a few bills and some change in the center of the table. Temari looked up at him curiously, and the right side of his mouth hooked into a smirk.

As they stood, Shikamaru looked at Temari. "I'm going to go talk to him. Tomorrow, I'll tell you how everything went." He kissed her again, and she hooked her arm in his as they left the restaurant. "I'll see you later, troublesome woman," he said teasingly.

Chuckling, Temari smacked him lightly on the arm. "I don't know what exactly you're planning, but I believe in you. Somehow, I know it'll work. For a lazy ass, you're smart, so I suppose you'll be able to do this," she told him. "I'll be going home then. Good luck, Shikamaru. I really hope it works."

"I hope it works, too," Shikamaru sighed to himself as he turned and headed to his car. The drive hardly took any time. Just as he pulled into the drive in front of the Hyuuga house, Hinata was leaving it. She gave him a wave and a bright smile. "What a drag. Now Naruto will be even more obnoxious the next time I see him," he grumbled.

When he knocked on the door, he was surprised to see a harried-looking Neji pull it open. "Did you forget something, Hinat–oh. What are you doing here?" Neji asked as he opened the door wider so Shikamaru could step inside.

There was a fedora in Shikamaru's hands, one that he had brought in from his car. "I came to return this," he said, holding it up. Neji took the proffered item and looked it over carefully, turning it over as if he did not recognize it.

"Oh. This is my fedora that I lent you a while back, isn't it?" Neji asked, not really needing an answer. He knew what it was. And he felt like he probably knew what the sudden visit was about. Sighing, he held onto the hat loosely, unsure what to say next.

Shikamaru nodded. "I figured I won't be performing any time soon, so you should have it back. I don't think I ever meant to have it for so long, anyway. I just kept forgetting I had it. Now that it's kind of useless to me, I don't want it to take up space."

"How have you been doing?" Neji asked, a strange mixture of curiosity and regret in his voice. "And what have you been doing? Wasn't singing how you got your income?" he wondered. He'd never been able to picture Shikamaru having a structured job.

Shrugging, Shikamaru looked at Neji. "I have some money saved up. I don't use a lot of money on clothes or my house. Most of it goes to taking Temari out, and she gets snappy if I try to spend too much money on her. And I've been doing okay. How have you been doing?" he prodded. "It was pretty obvious going to Ichiraku's was how you relaxed after a hard day. Ichiraku's and flirting with Tenten," he said, smirking.

"I've been fine," Neji answered shortly, his tone clipped. Neither man spoke for a while, and eventually Shikamaru turned to the door.

"I'd better be off, then, if there wasn't anything else you wanted to say to me," Shikamaru said. He was almost out of the door before Neji grabbed him by the arm. "Yeah?" Shikamaru asked lazily, turning to face him.

"Why are you just sitting back and letting this happen?" Neji asked, gesturing at the hat as if it was to blame for the entire situation. "Why are you just accepting it?" he queried.

Smirking, Shikamaru let go of the door and turned to face Neji. "Why does that seem like a problem to you?"

The silence between them stretched for several long moments until Neji finally broke it. "I'm not quite sure," he admitted, meeting Shikamaru's eyes squarely.

"Well, maybe it's because you're a human being. And all human beings feel guilty, even if they believe they shouldn't have to. Maybe it's because human beings don't just sit back and accept what they see. They move, and they shift. Most of all, they create," Shikamaru said slowly, holding Neji's gaze as he spoke.

Neji paused, silent, the fedora loose in his hands. Without a warning, Shikamaru reclaimed the fedora and placed it on his head. "I see you've made up your mind, then. See you around, Neji," Shikamaru said, and without another word, he turned and left.

For a few minutes, Neji stood there, staring at the wall across from him. Slowly, a smile spread across his face, and he rushed to pick his jacket up off of the chair.

He was going to go see Tenten.


	10. Aqua Vitae

_**AN: **_The last chapter. =( I hope you guys enjoyed it. Next up, if I can stop being so lazy, Mara and I have another collab planned. And I _really_ need to work on some of my other stories. =)

_**Strawberry Daiquiri**_

_Chapter Ten; Aqua Vitae_

_Ten Years Ago..._

"Momma, what are they doing?" Tenten asked, pointing a grubby little finger at the women standing silently, signs in their hands. Most of the men who passed by laughed and jeered at them, calling out jokes and mocking the women, who made no effort at retaliation.

The brunette woman looked in the direction her daughter was pointing. "They're picketing, dear," she explained.

That information, though, did not satiate Tenten. She merely kept staring, a perplexed expression on her chubby face. "But what's picketing?" she asked. "And why are they letting those men be so mean to them?" Tenten wondered, frowning. "That isn't very nice of those men! Didn't anyone teach them to be nice to ladies?"

"Well, picketing is when you stand and hold up signs for people to read. It helps bring forth change sometimes," she explained. "These women are picketing to have the law changed so women can vote. The men are being mean because they don't agree with the women. They don't want women to be able to vote."

Tenten's face fell. "But why do they want the law changed? I thought the law was something that was good for everyone. You told me that the law helps keep me safe at night," Tenten said stubbornly, looking up at her mother for some sort of reassurance or explanation.

She sighed and smoothed her daughter's hair. "Sometimes the law isn't right. The people who make laws are human, just like you and I. So sometimes they make mistakes, and sometimes they change their minds. The law has been changed many times before because people realized that they were wrong."

"But how do we know if the law's right or wrong? And is that what you're supposed to do if it's wrong? Just sit there and let people be mean? That's not fair, Momma," Tenten said sadly, her brown eyes wide.

"Right now all those women can do is stand there. If they tried to go vote, like they want to, they will be put in jail," she said, and sighed. "Sadly, there's no way to really tell if the law is right or wrong. Often, it's up to each person to decide, and people have different ideas sometimes. Usually, though, if there's something that your heart tells you is wrong, it's wrong. The law isn't always right. People, even lawmakers, cannot hope to be perfect. What's important is that we recognize our mistakes and try to fix the things we think are wrong."

Peering at the women with the signs, Tenten cocked her head. "Even if it means standing up there and having people being mean?" she queried.

"Even if it means standing up there and having people being mean," her mother agreed. "What's important is that we don't just go along with the wrong things."

_Present Day..._

"Tenten? Tenten!" Lee's voice penetrated into Tenten's thoughts, and she looked up, blinking as if she'd just stepped into a bright ray of light. "Are you all right? You seem to have fallen into a sort of a daze. Perhaps you are not feeling well?" he asked, all big eyes and a concerned face.

Sighing, Tenten pushed a few stray strands of hair behind her ear. "I'm not sick, Lee. I'm not feeling my best, but it's something that I'll get over sooner or later, I suppose," she sighed.

"Has your heart been hurt by the vigor of youthful love? Tenten, you cannot give up! You must accept your feelings and act on them. There is no time to wait! Youth does not wait for anyone!" Lee said, his voice full of zeal.

She groaned and attempted to muster up a glare, and she succeeded only in looking particularly dejected. "Lee. Shut up. I really don't want to hear about it right now. My conscience is giving me hell currently, and I don't need you pestering me, also. Just–ugh. Just leave me alone. I need to go on my patrol," Tenten said curtly, holding her keys and blowing past him.

Right before she could reach freedom, Gai apprehended her, obscuring the door with his much larger body. "Tenten, are you planning on going on your patrol right now?" he asked, peering down at her face.

"That's right," she said, her voice grumpy and a small pout on her face. "Now, if you could get out of my way so I can just leave, that would be a big help," she requested, her teeth clenched as she tried to force her voice to at least sound polite.

"I would rather if you didn't go, Tenten," Gai cut in, his voice sympathetic. One of his huge hands rested on her shoulder, and she fought the urge to shake him off.

"_Chief_," she whined. "I don't care what Lee thinks. I'm fine. I'm not stupid enough to let my emotions to get in my way during patrol. I leave that kind of idiocy for other times," she added bitterly, biting her lip. Something was prickling at the back of her eyelids. Tears, she realized belatedly, just as the first trail of wetness made its way down her cheek. She was such a weakling, she thought bitterly as she wiped it away with the back of her hand. Such a _girl_.

Gai wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gestured to Lee with his free hand. "Lee, could you please take over our dear Tenten's patrol? I must speak with her, and I have full confidence that you should accomplish it as admirably as Tenten would, were she not indisposed!"

Springing into a full salute, Lee grinned foolishly. "Of course, Chief! I will do my best!" With that, he sped past them, only pausing to place a brotherly kiss on Tenten's cheek. "We believe in you, Tenten. Even when you do not believe in yourself," he said quietly as a few more tears coursed down her face.

Seconds later, the door thudded decisively behind him, and Tenten drew a shuddering breath. Before she could begin to speak, though, she was cut off by her chief's deep voice. "Once, when I was a few years older than you, I made a poor decision, one that affected others and myself negatively. I hadn't made it out of ill-intent, I was just foolish and too quick to act. Instead of deliberating carefully, I made a decision. Now I can hardly speak of it; I feel too much remorse, too much regret. Not because I made the decision, but because I never remedied it when the chance came.

"Tenten, there are no people who are perfect. Even when the springtime of youth is at its most glorious, one will still make mistakes. It's how we learn. How many mistakes we make in a lifetime is of little consequence. What truly matters is that, when we can, we fix our mistakes. Our law has been fixed many times, but it is still not perfect. It's a long way from perfect. But as we keep learning, we must have the strength to admit we were wrong and fix our mistakes."

Wiping her eyes again, Tenten breathed in steadily. "I still feel like it's too late now," she said remorsefully. "I don't know if I can fix it. I feel like too much damage has been done."

Gai just chuckled and hugged her tightly, then pulled away and smoothed her hair. "Very few things are lost causes, Tenten. Now, I think you have quite a bit to think about. Would you object too highly to me sending you home?" he asked gently.

"No, I suppose not. I guess I need some time to think. I'll be back tomorrow, Chief," she said, squaring her shoulders. "Thank you."

Watching as she left, Gai chortled. "She will make the right decision, and her youth will blossom beautifully for all to see," he said to himself before he turned around and headed towards his office.

Just like youth, paperwork waited for no one. Alas.

. . .

As she lounged on her couch, Tenten made a valiant attempt to read, but the letters of her book merely swam before her, making her feel even more nauseous. Before she could make another attempt at reading, there was a loud knock on her door. Her eyes slid to the wall clock, and she sighed. It was time for Lee to be done with her patrol. He'd be checking up on her. "The door's open," she intoned.

"I would think that a police officer would have some degree of concern for her own well-being," came a cool voice from her doorway. Tenten gasped quietly, her eyes instantly snapping to his empty pale ones. "Tenten, I came to level with you. If you'll listen to me for a few minutes, I won't bother you any more," Neji said calmly as he approached the couch.

Regret and pride and a sort of desperation battled somewhere inside of Tenten, making her stomach turn and her head spin. Pride won, again. Didn't it always? "Fine, Hyuuga," she said, trying to sound more imperious than she felt.

What did she even have to feel pride over, anyway?

"We both know we made mistakes. I think it's time we fixed them, Tenten. It's not too late. We can take down the charges on the bar. I've looked into the legalities; we still have time. We may have to act quickly, but it can be done."

Tenten sighed and put her book down, gazing levelly at Neji. "I wish this all could just blow over. Neji, I'd stay here in my house until no one even remembers Ichiraku's, if that's what it would take. I know it's foolish. I know it's childish. But I just don't feel like I could possibly even look at them again. Naruto, Shikamaru. Hinata and Temari. Ichiraku himself. Even you. I can't believe that they'll forgive me. I wouldn't forgive myself."

"How can you just assume that? Why do you think they'll damn you when you're not even willing to give them a chance to forgive you?" Neji asked cryptically. Graceful as a cat, he settled himself near her on the couch, pausing as she tensed up and then relaxed. "Don't be irrational. They'll forgive you. Give them a chance, Tenten."

"What makes you so confident they'll just forgive me? It truly was my fault, and I know that. I can own up to the truth. I'm sure they know it, too. So what even makes you believe they'll be kind enough to just forgive and forget?" she demanded, her eyes glaring into his.

Neji shrugged. "Well, my conversation with Hinata led me to believe that. Like when she told me that it's a human thing to do, to make mistakes. Like when she said love makes fools of us all, and that was understandable."

For a moment, Tenten was silent, her gaze falling to her hands. "Do you really think we're in love, Neji?" she challenged softly, cautiously.

A serene smile crossed Neji's lips. "Yes," he said confidently, dropping his head to kiss Tenten, his lips feather-soft on hers.

. . .

"There it is, Tenten. Just as if nothing had ever happened," Neji said, his hand wrapped comfortingly around her smaller one. "Now, come on. We have some friends in there who would like to congratulate us on winning it back."

She frowned and drew back slightly, her shoulder brushing against his jacket. "I'm nervous, Neji," she confided.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Neji's small smile. "I'm here, Tenten," he reassured her. Suddenly, she dropped his hand, and he glanced over, concerned. Her chocolate eyes were stony, her shoulders squared against the sensible fabric of her police uniform, her hair down. Slowly, she drew a breath, and Neji feared for a moment that she would bolt away. Instead, she yanked open one of the ruby doors and strutted through, her steps confident. Neji grinned, following behind.

He only barely managed to dodge as Tenten was tackled back several feet by a blur of black, blonde, purple, and blue.

"Tenten, you absolute ass–"

"It's s-so good to see you again-"

"–if you _ever _pull a stunt like that again–"

"–we both really missed you, Temari's just–"

"I missed you both, too," Tenten said, managing to unpin her arms from her sides and wrap one around Hinata and one around Temari. "I really missed you two. I'm awfully sorry," she said, her voice now quavering.

"Oh, don't you even start sounding so pathetic and weepy now, wet blanket," Temari demanded, wiping away what looked suspiciously like tears. "We're at our regular table. Naruto and Shika are up right now, but when they're done with their song, they'll be down." Tenten allowed herself to be dragged along, and Neji wandered after, smiling.

The moment they approached the table, Naruto abandoned his trombone and vaulted over the stage. Grinning wildly, he grabbed Hinata, spun her around, and kissed her on the mouth. She turned bright red but managed not to faint, although she was more than a bit breathless when he released her. "Well, I guess you two are an item now," Tenten said wryly, laughing.

Naruto hugged her tightly. "We missed you, Tenten. Way to go, getting the bar back!" he cheered. Tenten laughed quietly. It was just so like him, to concentrate on what she'd done right, even when she'd done so much wrong. "And yeah, me and Hina are finally together! I even get to kiss her! And Neji doesn't try to hurt me when I do, which is a good thing."

"Maybe he should beat some sense into you," came a calmer voice from behind Naruto. Shikamaru, too, had ditched the band. Smirking, he clasped Tenten's shoulder. "It's good to have you back, Tenten. I'm glad you made the right decision," he added, adjusting his fedora slightly.

"Yeah, I'm glad, too," she replied, smiling.

"Not that he did anything about it, of course," Temari complained good-naturedly as she stole Shikamaru's hat and placed it on her own head. "It would have been too troublesome for him."

Reaching over, Shikamaru pushed the brim of the fedora down playfully over Temari's eyes. "Just like my relationship with you," he smirked.

"You love it," Temari insisted, pushing the hat's brim up and throwing her arms around Shikamaru's shoulders.

"I never denied that," he agreed.

Tenten turned to Neji, but before she got a chance to speak, another voice cut it. "Girl, I ought to have you thrown out of my place. But I guess I'll just ask for your order, instead." Tenten spun around to see Ichiraku standing over the table, grinning.

"It's good to see you again, Ichiraku. I'll have a strawberry daiquiri, please," she asked, looking over her shoulder at Neji, who shot her a smile. "Nonalcoholic, of course."

Ichiraku boomed with laughter. "Of course. I would never dream of serving alcohol here!"

Maybe that was true, Tenten thought benevolently. And maybe it wasn't. And maybe she was okay with either one. As she considered this, she felt a hand cover hers, warmth radiating from slender fingertips. Smiling, Tenten turned and softly kissed Neji.

Finally, Tenten decided, she might have grown into a woman her mother could be proud of.


End file.
